FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu March 30, 2016 Softball heads for Tournament of Champions MSUB Softball on Facebook | MSUB Softball on ISSUU GNAC Standings | GNAC Weekly Release | Tournament of Champions Preview interviews with Amanda Roark, Cameron Cassinelli, Bella Rovens, and head coach Rebekah Gasner
Bella Rovens was 3-for-3 in the first game against Western Washington last week.
MSU Billings is travelling to Turlock, Calif., for the 15h Annual Tournament of Champions. BILLINGS, Mont. – This week the MSU Billings softball team is taking a break from Great Northwest Athletic Conference competition and is headed to California for the 15th Annual Tournament of Champions presented by the City of Turlock, hosted by Stanislaus State, Apr. 1-3. The Yellowjackets are heading into the tournament after hosting two weekend series at home. The ‘Jackets took a game each from Saint Martin’s and Western Washington in the four-gamer series against each team. Last week, the Vikings and Yellowjackets lit up the scoreboard. Across the weekend, 100 runs were scored on 117 hits with 90 RBI.
While MSUB (9-19, 2-10 GNAC0 came away with just one win, the third game was a 20-14 victory as the Yellowjackets earned a program record 23 hits and were one shy of tying the RBI record of 19. MSU Billings had 10 home runs in the series and are now second in the league in total home runs with 28 on the season. MSUB has the fourth-best batting average in the GNAC at .318 and has the most triples in the conference with eight. TRACY REACHES THE TOP: Sophomore Heather Tracy went from a .325 batting average two weeks ago, to last week moving up to .412 for seventh in the conference, and this week has reached .462 for the No. 1 spot in the GNAC. The outfielder was 9-for-14 at the plate with 5 runs, three home runs, and 15 RBI. For the four-games, Tracy hit .643 with a 1.357 slugging percentage. She is eighth in the GNAC in home runs with five and tied for second in triples with two. Tracy also leads the team in stolen bases and is tied for fifth in the GNAC with eight on the season. The Boise, Idaho, native is tied for third in the conference in on-base percentage at .500 and is third in slugging percentage at .800. CRUSHING IT AT THE PLATE: Tying Tracy at the plate with three home runs each were sophomore Cameron Cassinelli and junior Kelsey Devlin. Cassinelli was 4-for-9 in the series against the Vikings while Devlin finished 7-for-14. Cassinelli is 12th in the league in batting average at .386 and is tied with Tracy for third-best in on-base percentage at .500. She leads the GNAC in slugging percentage at .871 with 13 of her 27 total hits going for extra bases. The first baseman and left-handed pitcher is second in the league with home runs at 10, tied for fourth in RBI at 28, and tied for seventh in total bases at 2.26 per game. Devlin is now batting .310 for the team and is ninth in the GNAC in slugging percentage at .638. She has five home runs on the season for eighth-best in the league. Devlin’s third home run of the series was in the last game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Up to bat first, Devlin hit a ball over the left field fence that cleared the rocks and vaulted up into the dirt to pull MSUB within one run, 10-9. In the infield for the ‘Jackets, against the Vikings Devlin had nine putouts without an error. RETURNING TO FORM: Junior Bella Rovens steppedup for the team last week at the plate and in the outfield. In the first game against WWU, Rovens was Kelsey Devlin had three home runs last weekend. 3-for-3 with half of MSUB’s total hits in the game. For the series, Rovens finished 9-for-13 with 8 runs and four walks. She also made two spectacular catches in centerfield to save a pair of home runs over the fence. The first would have been a game-changing grand slam and the second was far off to her right and involved her running into the railing to make the grab.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Left fielder Cori Gammon leads the team in hits with 30. Gammon was the lead-off hitter the ‘Jackets in every game last weekend. She is tied for first on the team in runs scored at 22 and sacrifice bunts with six. Last weekend, Gammon had several key catches in left field, including two at the fence. She also made a throw from shallow left field to catcher Haley Rowe for an out at home plate that saved a run and ended the inning in a key moment. Rowe had a pair of doubles in her at-bats last weekend. She also scored two runs and had two RBI. The catcher has caught eight runners stealing bases this season for second in the GNAC. Right-handed pitcher Amanda Roark tossed 15 innings last weekend for MSUB. She had 10 strikeouts during the four games and is sixth in the GNAC in games started with 12 and ninth in appearances at 17. Myrissa Prince hit her second grand slam of the season.
PITCHING STAFF: With sophomore Megan Dettling struggling with an injury, everyone on the staff has bumped up their time in the circle. Taylor Tokach made appearances in all four games weekend. She had three strikeouts and has now tossed 17 and 1/3 innings for MSUB. STRINGARI AT SHORT: Katlyn Stringari stepped-in at shortstop for three games against WWU. After a bobble in the opening game, the sophomore from Shepherd, Mont., was solid in the spot, making several big stops and was there for two throw downs from Rowe. She had three putouts and six assists and was 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs during the third game against the Vikings. SECOND STRAIGHT SERIES: After being awarded GNAC Player of the Week honors last week, sophomore Myrissa Prince continued her winning ways at the plate. For the second straight series, the second baseman produced a grand slam for her team. Down 13-8 in the second game against WWU, Prince stepped to the plate with bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning. On a 2-2 count, she sent a ball over the right field fence to draw the ‘Jackets to within a run, 13-12. Prince is on a six game hitsteak. She is third on the team in batting average at .367,
fourth in slugging percentage at .570, second in hits with 29, and second in RBI with 24. Tournament of Champions Apr. 1-3, Turlock, Calif. Live Stats will be available at: WarriorAthletics.com/TOCLive The Tournament of Champions format has changed this year. There will be no bracket play. Instead, MSUB will play six non-conference in-region games, two each day, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. San Francisco State University Gators Friday, 12:30 PM Pacific time 2016 Record: 19-12 Head Coach: Lisa Allen, 1st season San Francisco State is off to a solid start under former MSU Billings head coach Lisa Allen. The Gators are coming into the TOC on an 8-game winning streak, taking four games each from Cal State East Bay and Cal State San Marcos. Overall, SFSU is 19-12 with a 16-8 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The team is batting .276 in their 31 games with a .372 slugging percentage. The Gators’ offense is a team effort with six players recording 20 or more hits and another six tallying 10 or more RBI. At the plate, Gabby Reta is leading the charge batting .387. Sara Higa has 26 hits on a .289 average. Both Angelica Terrel and Jennifer Lewis lead the team with 29 hits each. Alexis Mattos has been fastest around the diamond, she is 11-13 in stolen bases. The pitching staff boasts three members with a 4.00 ERA or less. Megan Clark is holding a 2.17 ERA in 16 appearances and 93 and 2/3 innings of work with 45 strikeouts. Last week, Clark was instrumental in two marathon wins against Cal State San Marcos. In Game 1, SFSU went nine innings for a 5-4 win, and in the second game, the Gators prevailed 7-5 in 14 innings. Clark tossed the complete nine innings in the first game and tossed the remaining eight in Game 2 for both wins. Lindsey Cassidy has a 2.70 ERA in 72 and 2/3 innings of work with 32 strikeouts in 16 appearances. Jenny Obbema has a 4-3 overall record on 57 and 2/3 innings with a 3.52 ERA. The Series: The Yellowjackets and Gators have played seven times since softball was added at MSU Billings with SFSU holding a 5-2 edge, but the Yellowjackets won the last two meetings in 2011 (9-3) and 2012 (5-3), both at the Tournament of Champions. Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) Cougars Friday, 3:00 PM Pacific time 2016 Record: 18-7 Head Coach: Carrie Webber, 4th season Azusa Pacific has won its last 8-10 games and holds an 18-7 overall record and is 9-3 in the PacWest. The Cougars were at the MSUB hosted Desert Stinger, posting a 3-2 record in Las Vegas.
APU is third in the conference standings behind Cal Baptist and Dixie State. The Cougars are batting .344 as a team. Nicki Sprague is third in the PacWest with a .443 batting average, her on-base percentage is fourth-best at .505, and she is eighth in hits with 39. Abry Moreno is batting .400 and Cayla Broussard is just behind at .392. Madison Hernandez leads the team in RBI with 26. Narissa Garcia and Carly Xepoleas have both posted seven wins each for Azusa Pacific. Garcia holds a 1.97 ERA in 71 innings of work recording 50 strikeouts. Xepoleas holds a 2.36 ERA in 56 and 1/3 innings with 33 strikeouts. APU and MSUB have one common opponent this season in Hawaii Hilo. MSUB split its games with the Vulcans winning 3-0 before falling in the second match-up 4-1. Azusa Pacific also split its series with UHH. On Mar. 25, APU dropped a pair of games 8-5 and 7-3 before coming back the next day to counter with two wins at 4-2 and 3-2. The Series: The Yellowjackets and Cougars have met once before with MSU Billings taking the game 6-4 at the 2014 MSUB-hosted Desert Stinger tournament in Las Vegas. UC San Diego Tritons Saturday, 9:00 AM Pacific time 2016 Record: 20-12 Head Coach: Patti Gerckens, 24th UC San Diego holds an overall record of 20-12 and is 14-10 in the CCAA for a fifth place standing in the conference. Last week the Tritons were ranked No. 25 in the country, but have since dropped out of the national rankings. The Tritons split their series last weekend with Cal State East Bay 2-2. This team is batting .291 overall. Maddy Lewis is second in the CCAA with a .409 average and fourth in slugging percentage at .614. Kelsi Maday is batting .370 and leads the conference in runs scored at 34. Maday is also third in stolen bases with 18 while Lewis has 12. Emma Schneider is batting .329 and leads the team in double with 11. On their pitching staff, the Tritons have two main starters. Lexi Edwards is 9-4 and holds an ERA of 1.75 in 88 innings of work. The senior left-handed pitcher has amassed 51 strikeouts against 40 walks. Lauren Brown is 8-5 overall with 19 game appearance in 74 and 2/3 innings. She has an ERA of 2.81 with 40 strikeouts. The Series: MSU Billings is 1-4 against UC San Diego. All five games have been contested at the Tournament of Champions. The ‘Jackets have lost the last three games, including a 1-0 defeat in 2014. Cal State East Bay Pioneers Saturday, 11:30 AM Pacific time 2016 Record: 11-17 Head Coach: Claire Sua-Amundson, 1st season Cal State East Bay is 8-14 overall and 11-17 in the CCAA for a ninth place result in the conference standings. While the Pioneers last lost their opening two game to UC San Diego, the team rallied for two wins, including a big 13-1 dominate performance to end the series. CSUEB is batting .273 overall. Rose Marston is helping out her team with a .407 average at the plate. Marston is sixth in the conference with a .605 slugging percentage and is reaching base at a .489 clip. Ali Cerminara is batting .320 with 24 hits with a team-best 22 RBI.
In the circle, Sierra Clark is 5-7 with a 2.26 ERA. She has 83 and 2/3 innings of work and is fourth in the CCAA with 73 strikeouts. Tatiana Beilstein is 4-8 with a 2.42 ERA in 78 innings. She has 30 strikeouts and no home runs against her. The Series: MSUB has won both games against Cal State East Bay. The Yellowjackets won 6-5 (9) in 2010 and 5-2 in 2014. Dominican University (Calif.) Penguins Sunday, 10:00 AM Pacific time 2016 Record: 11-20 Head Coach: Sarah Byrne, 4th season Dominican is 11-20 overall and 9-12 in the PacWest for eighth place in the conference standings. The Penguins last split its series with Academy of Art, winning 4-2 and dropping the second game 11-6. Dominican is batting .248. Alexis Chinchilla is batting .317 with 13 hits. Alyssa Lanza is batting .309 and Catlyn Cavender .301. Cavender leads the team in hits with 28 and runs with 18. Dahlen Dennis has 11 RBI and four home runs. The Penguins have five pitchers on their staff. Gaby Katafias has a team-low 2.75 ERA in 43 and 1/3 innings. Ashlyn Moriarity is tied with Katafias with three wins, and has an ERA of 3.05 on a team-leading 57 and 1/3 innings. The Series: MSU Billings defeated Dominican 9-1 (5) in the only meeting between the two teams at the Tournament of Champions in 2012. Humboldt State University Lumberjacks Sunday, 3:00 PM Pacific time 2016 Record: 24-2-1 Head Coach: Shelli Sarchett, 2nd season Humboldt State is coming into the Tournament of Champions nationally ranked No. 3 this week. The Lumberjacks are 24-2-1 overall and 19-1 in the CCAA, three wins ahead of San Francisco State. The Jacks have rolled through their 2016 season so far, climbing the national rankings to this week’s third-best in NCAA Division II. HSU is on an 11-game win streak. The two losses to this season were to No. 2 Texas A&M, 3-2, at the Dixie State Tournament at the beginning of the season, and one game to No. 25 Chico State, 11-3, during the four-game conference series against the Wildcats. HSU has recorded 10 shutouts this season. In last week’s four-game series against CCAA opponent Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Jacks won by scores of 8-1, 5-0, 8-0 and 12-3. Hanna Holland leads the CCAA in batting average at .418 and in on-base percentage of .543. She is decisive at the plate with a conference-leading 20 walks and has speed on the bases with a large leading margin of 29 stolen bases this season. Reigning CCAA Athlete of the Week Tiffany Hollingsworth, is batting .400 on the season, leading the conference in slugging percentage at .763 while tied for first in RBI with 29. Hollingsworth is second in the conference with seven home runs this year.
While Humboldt State boast several good players at the plate, the Jacks have really relied on their pitching staff this season. HSU leads the CCAA with a combined team ERA of 1.36 and is holding opponents to .214 at the plate. Humboldt State has just six total home runs against them with 199 strikeouts. The defense is also backing up the circle with a conference-leading .972 average in the field. HSU holds the top two pitchers with the lowest ERA in the league. In 88 innings of work, Madison Williams is 12-0 with a 1.35 ERA. She has 128 strikeouts with 12 complete games to her credit. The junior right-handed pitcher has just 18 walks and 17 earned runs with a single home run against her. Senior right-handed pitcher Katie Obbema is 11-2 with an ERA of 1.51. Obbema has 79 innings of work under her belt with nine complete games. The Series: MSUB is 4-17 overall against Humboldt, but in recent years holds a 3-4 record. MSUB played the Lumberjacks three times last year. MSUB won at the Desert Stinger 6-3. The Jacks countered with a 6-3 win at the Tournament of Champions. The big-match was in Seaside, Calif., at the NCAA west region tournament where MSUB won 5-3 over HSU to advance to the west sub-region championship game. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--