MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team lost the final two games of its four-game series with Montana State Billings on Sunday, falling 10-6 and 18-11.
 
The Wolves (26-20, 21-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) was able to rally from a 6-2 deficit entering the bottom of the eighth inning, but the visiting Yellowjackets responded with a four-run ninth inning to distance themselves for victory.
 
Down a run in the third inning, Erik Long extended the inning with a two-out single bounced through the right side of the infield. After advancing to second base via a wild pitch, Trevor Podratz drew a walk. Nick Snyder walk hit in the back two pitches later to load the bases. Kyle Vanderkin benefitted from some wildness to earn a four-pitch walk and an RBI when Long scored from third base.
 
Like the third inning, the Wolves stranded the bases loaded in the fourth frame as well.               
 
Both teams scored a run in the sixth inning. Marcus Madden led off the WOU half inning with a double to left field. Cody Poznanski moved Madden to third after beating out a bunt single down the third base line. Forrest Garcia also played small ball, laying down a bunt that forced Poznanski at second, but scored Madden with a run to make the score 2-2.
 
MSUB netted a run in the seventh inning and three more tallies in the eighth inning to lead 6-2, forcing the Wolves into a position to score a bunch of runs with a limited amount of outs to play with.
 
The Wolves went to work with one out in the home half of the eighth inning. Poznanski got ahead in the count and ultimately singled on a ground ball past shortstop. Garcia fell behind, but flared a single just inside the line in left field and Jay Leverett loaded the bags following a five-pitch walk. MSUB made a pitching change to their closer, Adam Cox. On the first pitch, Long bounced a ball back up the middle to plate two runs. With two outs, Snyder lined a RBI single to left field that placed the tying run at third base. Vanderkin couldn't check his swing on the first Cox offering, but his solid second swing banged a base hit into right field plating Long with the equalizing run.
 
In the ninth, freshman southpaw Jacob Fricke hit the first batter and later allowed a RBI double to MSUB's Luke Reinschmidt, the eventual game-winning hit, before the Yellowjackets added three more insurance runs. Fricke fell to 3-3 on the season.
 
WOU pumped out 14 hits in the first game to the Yellowjackets' 12. Poznanski led the Wolves with three hits and Long went 2-for-4 with two runs and two runs knocked in.
 
Game two started innocently enough with both teams scoring a pair of first-inning runs in very different ways. The Yellowjackets used three hits and a balk while the Wolves posted their runs without a base hit. Two walks and hit batter filled the bags for Vanderkin. During his plate appearance, a wild pitch allowed Leverett to jet home from third base. Vanderkin grounded out to second base plating Podratz to tie the game, 2-2.
 
MSUB opened the flood gates in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring a combined 13 runs on seven hits and two bases-loaded walks.
 
Western Oregon tried to rally from 13 runs down, but the deficit was too large to overcome. Extra base hits helped the home club tack on three runs with two outs in the fifth inning. Garcia drew a walk and scored on a triple to left field from Leverett. Two pitches later, Long lined a ball to the wall in right field for a run batted in. Podratz split the gap in right-center to close out the scoring with a double. In the last frame, Snyder added another RBI with a double, Vanderkin bounced in a run and Madden singled to right for another run.
 
The team combined for 28 hits with the Wolves finishing with 12. Leverett and Podratz both went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
 
The Wolves will step into the final weekend of the regular season trailing league-leading Central Washington by one game. WOU will host the Wildcats for a four-game set next weekend, with doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday (May 6-7) at 1 p.m. and noon, respectively.