Tyler Brandenburg throw
Amanda Loman
2
Mont. St. Billings MSUB 9-4
3
Winner Western Oregon WOU 4-3
Mont. St. Billings MSUB
9-4
2
Final
3
Western Oregon WOU
4-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mont. St. Billings MSUB 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
Western Oregon WOU 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 3 6 0

W: Kuykendall, Seth (1-0) L: Dylan Barkley (1-1) S: McCord, Connor (1)

8
Winner Mont. St. Billings MSUB 10-4
5
Western Oregon WOU 4-4
Winner
Mont. St. Billings MSUB
10-4
8
Final
5
Western Oregon WOU
4-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mont. St. Billings MSUB 1 4 2 0 0 0 1 8 9 0
Western Oregon WOU 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 5 7 1

W: Sam Muskat (3-0) L: Gibons, David (0-1) S: Hunter Roubidoux (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bullpen bolsters Wolves, split series with 'Jackets

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon baseball team split their final day of a four-game series with the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets, going 2-2 over the weekend in their first home series of the 2020 season.
 
Western Oregon (4-4, 2-2 GNAC) earned a 3-2 win in game one of the doubleheader, utilizing two solid relief appearances from Seth Kuykendall and Connor McCord.
 
The Wolves nabbed the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second when McCord led off the inning with a single to center. After being replaced on the base path by a fielder's choice, Joshua McIntyre took home when Ryan Santa Cruz got caught in a rundown between first and second, putting WOU up 1-0.

"In the past I think I've had a little trouble not staying over the baseball and pulling off. But I've been talking to Assistant Coach Trevor Podratz and I'm happy to have him back. The keys for me is just staying over the baseball and keeping my eyes over the plate," McCord added on his hot start at the plate of hitting close to .600.
 
MSUB (10-4, 2-2 GNAC) scored both of their runs in the top of the fourth inning to take their only lead of the game. After Daniel Cipriano was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Chris Arpan homered to left for his only hit. The 'Jackets managed just five hits throughout the game, getting four of them from the top half of the lineup.
 
Trailing 2-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, Western got another pair of runs to jump back on top at 3-2. Derek Maiben was hit by a pitch in an 0-2 count to lead off the inning and was followed by consecutive singles from Tyler Brandenburg and Jacob Maiben. With the bases loaded, McCord flew a sacrifice to center to score Derek and tie the game up at 2-2. Brandenburg later scored in the inning to put the Wolves back up by one.
 
Western Oregon's bullpen locked in to hold the slight lead. Kuykendall (1-0) threw three shutout innings, striking out four and walking one to earn his first win of the year. McCord also picked up his first save of the season, throwing the final two frames and striking out five. In total, Western Oregon pitchers struck out 12 and walked two in the game. At the plate, McCord was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

"That was the first time I got extended off the mound in awhile and everything seemed to be working pretty well today and was just happy to get the win for our guys," McCord said about his first save of the season.
 
Game two saw more offense from both sides and ended up going the way of the 'Jackets for the 8-5 MSUB win.
 
A combined 10 runs were scored between the two teams in the first three innings of play, including a four-run second for MSUB. The big inning included back-to-back home runs from Nathan Bloxham and Tyler Detloff. Detloff was 2-for-3 in the game with a home run, double, two runs scored and two RBI.
 
The Wolves were able to score five runs between the second and fifth to stay close, utilizing Justin Herzog's triple that scored two and a two-RBI single from Brandenburg to chip away at the MSUB lead.
 
Michael Moore's three innings of shutout relief helped keep WOU within striking distance, but scoreless offense in the sixth and seventh left Western short in their comeback bid after having the winning run at the plate.
 
Jacob Maiben went 2-for-3 in the second game of the doubleheader, adding on two runs and a walk to his afternoon. The Wolves walked six times in the second game, matching their most walks in a game since Feb. 14 at Fresno Pacific. They have walked at least five times in five of their eight games this year.

"I think we're off to a good start. I think we're still trying to fill some pieces in with a lot of people getting time, which is good. I think overall being 4-4 at this point in the season is fine. We just need to keep grinding and keep moving forward," McCord said. 

 
Next up, Western Oregon heads on the road for their first road trip of Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. They visit the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, for a four-game series. First pitch in game one each day is set for 12 p.m. PST at CWU Baseball Field.
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