Sarah Pitz | Freelancer
A bright sunny Saturday afternoon proved a perfect day for baseball. Add to that an excited crowd of 150 spectators, and it was evident the Wolves were ready to bring home a win in their doubleheader against Montana State Billings Yellowjackets on March 2.
The first inning showed some solid hitting by both teams, but none that were able to bring in runs. Pitchers rallied in the second inning. Despite almost getting hit in the face by a pitch in his previous at bat, Western’s Alex Roth delivered with two strikeouts in a row.
Montana State countered, also delivering a pair of strikeouts. With the game scoreless until the fourth inning, things began rolling for the Wolves when Collin Runge scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch.
By the sixth inning, Montana State was scrambling to score. That finally occurred with a run by the Yellowjackets’s Conner Linebarger due to a throwing error by the Wolves. That was rapidly followed by runs from Montana State’s Jalen Garcia, Brandon Koszuth, Daniel Cipriano and Matt Dillion. By the end of the inning, Montana State University had collected five runs.
While the Wolves turned around collecting three more runs of their own — Jared McDonald, Thomas Ahlstrom and Connor McCord all scored — Montana State dominated with an ending sixth inning score of 5-4.
In the seventh inning, both teams were able to hold their own. But that changed in the eighth inning when Montana State’s Andrew Schleusner picked up yet another run.
However, it was the ninth inning that proved to be the game-changer as Montana remained scoreless and Western pushed ahead.
The break came for the Wolves when Patrick Chun sent a ground ball to second base allowing Derek Maiben to score. Later in the inning, it would be Jared McDonald who hit a home run ball to right center field, bringing home Griffey Halle and Collin Runge. The three run play brought the crowd to their feet and clinched the win for the Wolves.
The 8-6 victory marked Western’s second continuous win and their first home win of the season. The Wolves would continue to end up on top in their four game series with the Yellowjackets with three wins and one loss.
Contact the author at spitz18@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton
