Baseball | 3/2/2013 5:28:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon baseball team opened conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Montana State Billings as the Wolves won game one, 3-2, before picking up a 7-1 victory in game two. With the wins, WOU improves to 7-6 overall, 2-0 in conference play, while MSUB fell to 2-13-1 overall, 0-2 in league action.

"I was really pleased with how our starters came out and competed today," head coach Kellen Walker said. "Offensively, we were able to come through in some important spots and we took advantage of our opportunities. Overall, it was a good start to conference play and we need to be ready to go tomorrow."

Spenser Watkins led WOU in the game one victory as the starter tossed eight innings of scoreless ball to move to 2-2 on the season. Watkins allowed only six hits while striking out six as the Wolves held a 3-0 lead heading into the ninth inning.

After allowing two runs, Stone struck out Brody Miller with the bases loaded to pick up his third save of the season.

The Wolves managed only four hits in the contest as WOU would get the runs it would need with three in the third inning. Blake Miller got the rally started as his RBI single scored Daniel McNabb for the first run of the ballgame. Tim Rausch then legged out an infield single to score Chris Bradshaw as Miller came around on a throwing error to give the Wolves a 3-0 lead.

Miller led the Wolves attack in the game one victory, going 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI.

Brady Mueller took the loss for MSUB as he fell to 1-2 on the season after allowing two earned runs on three hits in six innings of work.

In game two, WOU fell behind early; however, the Wolves rallied for seven unanswered runs to claim a 7-1 victory.

Gary Steindorf followed Watkins' strong start with one of his own as the right-hander tossed a complete game, allowing only one run on four hits in seven innings of work as he improved to 2-0 on the season.

After the Wolves fell behind 1-0 early, McNabb tied the score as his sacrifice fly to right scored Grant Moscolo from third in the bottom of the third inning. Chris Bradshaw would give the Wolves the lead for good as he beat out an infield single to score Garrett Harpole as the Wolves took a 2-1 lead into the fourth.

WOU held MSUB scoreless for the next three innings as the Wolves exploded for five runs in the sixth inning to put the game away. Sam Cameron and Bradshaw each had RBI in the inning as Steindorf had no problems closing the door on the Yellowjackets in the seventh to give the Wolves the game two win.

Bradshaw led the Wolves in game two as the right-fielder went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.

Samuel Paterson took the loss for MSUB as he allowed five runs on five hits in five innings of work to fall to 1-3 on the season.

The two teams will close out the four-game series when they meet for a doubleheader on Sunday, March 3, at 12:00 p.m.