Preview: Softball Senior Day Saturday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Wednesday, April 26, 2017 Preview: Softball Senior Day Saturday

In its final series of the 2017 season, MSUB’s softball team will honor its five graduating seniors in between games on Saturday during a four-game series against GNAC opponent Simon Fraser.

BILLINGS, Mont. – With a final Great Northwest Athletic Conference series on the schedule for the Montana State University Billings softball team this weekend, Senior Day is set for Saturday at Avitus Group Stadium.

The Yellowjackets (15-30, 9-15 GNAC) will host Simon Fraser University (9-31, 5-19 GNAC) in a four-game series, scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Doubleheaders will start at 1 p.m. Friday, and noon on Saturday, and live video with play-by-play commentary and live statistics will be available online through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.

The Senior Day ceremony will take place in between games on Saturday, with five graduating Yellowjackets to be recognized for their dedication to the program. Bella Rovens, Kelsey Devlin, Nicole Tiffany, Katie Jackson, and Taylor Tokach will each be joined by family and friends and recognized on Saturday.

“It’s going to be tough and emotional in a lot of different ways, but mostly we just want to have fun with it,” said Rovens, who became MSUB’s career hits leader last week. “I want to enjoy playing my last series at home as much as possible.”

MSUB is coming off a 3-1 series loss at Northwest Nazarene University last week, which eliminated the ‘Jackets from contention for a spot in the 2017 GNAC Championships. “We definitely want to see the team compete, and we talk about constantly leaving it all out on the field,” said MSUB head coach Jessica Rayman. “They have four games left together, so we want them to enjoy it and have fun, but at the same time compete and go out and fight.”

ROVENS STANDS ALONE: After five hits in the opening doubleheader last week, Rovens needed just one more to take over sole possession of MSUB’s all-time hits crown. An infield single in the fourth inning of Game 3 against NNU pushed the four-year starter over the hump, and she enters Senior Weekend with 210 knocks in her career.

The hits category is one of five major offensive stats that Rovens is MSUB’s all-time leader in, including at-bats (606), runs (154), walks (87), and games started (183).

MSUB Softball Career Hits Leaders Rank Name Hits 1 Bella Rovens 210 2 Terina Stacks 207 3 Emily Osborn 190 4 Steph Gosselin 188 5 Heather Tracy 179 6 Aubrey Conceicao 163 Kelly Parsons 163 8 Taylor Hoke 162 9 Jenna Haacke 158 Christy Wankel 158

Seasons 2014-17 2006-09 2012-15 2006-09 2015-17 2012-15 2008-11 2012-15 2005-08 2003-06 Rovens, who has started more games than anyone in MSUB history with 83, will play at Avitus Group Stadium a final time this weekend.

MEMORABLE FOUR YEARS FOR DEVLIN: Also a four-year starter for the ‘Jackets, Devlin needs one more hit to break into the top-10 at MSUB, as she has accumulated 157 over her four seasons. She is also tied for fifth all-time in RBIs with 103, and is tied for fourth with 29 career home runs. Primarily playing third base, Devlin’s 187 assists from the hot corner are the sixth most by any position player in school history as well.

“It’s a little bittersweet ending my career, but I have high hopes that we will go out on a good note,” Devlin commented on the upcoming series. “I remember growing up and watching the ‘Jackets play on this field, so knowing this will be the last time I step onto it as a Yellowjacket is hard to wrap your mind around.”

ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE: Tokach is finishing her final season strong, making five appearances over the last two series for the Yellowjackets. The right-hander tossed five full innings in a start against Central Washington two weeks ago at home, and logged a pair of strikeouts in 1 2/3 relief innings in her most recent appearance against the Crusaders.

Tiffany is batting .243 in 74 at bats this season, and earned her 22nd start in the second game against the Crusaders.

Jackson started nine games before the plate early on in the year, before injuries limited her senior campaign.

HISTORY FOR TRACY: After Rovens set a new career hits standard, junior rightfielder Heather Tracy broke the singleseason mark with her 73rd of the year in the series finale against NNU. Tracy is tied for 13th in the NCAA with her 73 hits, and her .451 batting average is 29th best in the country. She enters the final series of her junior season No. 5 in MSUB history with 179 hits, No. 1 in steals with 36, and needs one more triple to tie the all-time mark of seven held by Becca Frank (2010-12).

CASSINELLI REACHES 30 LONG BALLS: Homering twice last week, junior first baseman Cameron Cassinelli upped her career total to 30 and is now tied for second-most in MSUB history. Cassinelli’s 13 long balls are most in the GNAC this year, and she is tied for 15th most in all of the NCAA. She is also tied for second in the GNAC with 49 RBIs, needing two more to set an MSUB school record and pass Taylor Hoke (50, 2015).

LOUD INTRODUCTION FROM ALMARIO: Making her first start since Feb. 3 and just her second of the year, sophomore Vanessa Almario wasted no time in breaking out at the plate. In Game 2 against the Crusaders, she drilled her first-career home run over the fence in left, and wound up with four RBIs in the game.

Almario followed by drawing three walks in her next start, and homering again in her only official at-bat of the game. Overall she scored four runs and drove in five against the Crusaders.

Cameron Cassinelli leads the GNAC with 13 home runs this season.

PRINCE HITS 2ND HR OF SEASON: Junior second baseman Myrissa Prince hit her second home run of the year last week, and has recorded a hit in each of the last seven games.

She ranks sixth on the team with 14 RBIs, and has made good contact as her 13 strikeouts are second-fewest among the team’s regular starters.

Simon Fraser University Clan Friday, April 28 – 1 PM Doubleheader Saturday, April 29 – 12 PM Doubleheader – SENIOR DAY 2017 Record: 9-31, 5-19 GNAC (8th Place) Head Coach: Mike Renney, 23rd Season 2016 Record: 26-24, 12-16 GNAC (6th Place) The Clan enter this weekend’s season finale coming off a doubleheader loss to Western Washington last week. SFU has dropped 10 of its last 11 games overall dating back to April 9.

Taylor Lundrigan is the team’s top player, starting 40 games and carrying a stellar .423 batting average. She has a teamhigh eight home runs and 29 RBIs, and has added a dozen doubles this year while slugging .700.

Taylor Gillis is batting .317 and has also started all 40 of the team’s games. She ranks fourth on the team with 14 RBIs and second with 24 runs scored.

Chelsea Hotner and Jada Yeo are tied for the second-most RBIs on the squad with 16 apiece, and the duo is batting .271 and .247, respectively.

In the circle, Tori Belton is the top starter with a 4.67 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched. Alia Stachoski has matched Belton with 19 starts this season, and has racked up 51 strikeouts in 104 1/3 innings.

The Clan average 3.9 runs per game and have a team ERA of 4.68 defensively.

The Series: MSUB holds a 16-12 all-time edge against the Clan, and the ‘Jackets are 8-4 in games played in Billings.

Last Time Out: SFU won all four games last season, which were played in Burnaby, British Columbia. The ‘Jackets scored just five runs total last year in four games against SFU.

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