March 26, 2016 Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. - Sophomore first baseman Emily Benson hit three home runs to lead the Western Washington Vikings to a doubleheader split against Montana State Billings Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Avitus Group Stadium.
The Vikings (15-15, 10-10 GNAC) evened their overall and conference records with the 10-9 win in the second game after falling 20-14 in the first game. WWU won the series 3-1 with the teams combining for 117 hits and 100 runs in the four-game series. MSUB stands at 9-19 overall and 2-10 in GNAC play.
Benson (West Richland, WA/Kamiakin) continued her torrid sophomore season going 5-for-7 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI in today's doubleheader. Benson leads the GNAC with 12 home runs, passing the previous single-season school record of 10 home runs by teammate Alexie Levin (Everett, WA) in 2014. In addition to the home run barrage, Benson has recorded a hit in 15 consecutive games.
"Emily had a tremendous approach at the plate today and is just locked in right now," said sixth-year head coach Amy Suiter. "She stepped up to the plate today and was an instant RBI."
Levin also had a solid day at the plate going 6-for-8 with 7 runs scored. She hit her second home run of the season, giving her 20 in her career to climb to with two of the all-time WWU record.
Senior center fielder Arianna Barrio (Stanwood, WA/Lakewood) went 6-for-9 during the doubleheader, including a school-record-tying 5-for-5 in the second game.
The Vikings return to action Tuesday with a doubleheader at Stanislaus State at 4 pm in Turlock, CA. WWU will remain in Turlock for the annual Tournament of Champions playing six tournament games.
MSU Billings 20, Western Washington 14 // GAME 1
Box Score| Game Book
The Slugfest in Billings continued in Game 1 with the Yellowjackets tying a GNAC record 23 hits in a 20-14 victory over the Vikings. The 20 runs scored and 23 hits allowed marked the most by WWU in single-game history.
Benson went 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored, 2 home runs and 5 RBI to lead the Vikings at the plate. With her first career multi-home run game Benson increased her season total to 11 homers to set the single-season school record (in game 29). The 3 hits also extended her hitting streak to 14 consecutive games.
Senior third baseman Emma Blauser (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer) also hit her sixth home run of the season and sophomore Sarah Morrow (Enumclaw, WA) hit her first career home run. Benson, junior second baseman Kali Patterson (Bonney Lake, WA) and senior right fielder Alexie Levin (Everett, WA) all recorded 3-hit games for Western.
Every MSUB player that recorded a plate appearance turned in a multi-hit game and scored at least one run. First baseman Cameron Cassinelli led the Yellowjackets going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs (No. 8 & 9 of the season).
The high-scoring affair featured 34 runs and 40 hits between the two teams. Each team scored at least one run in each half of the first five innings.
WWU held leads of 3-2 (after 1st inning) and 8-6 (after top of 3rd), but MSUB turned to its high-powered offense to answer with each score. The Vikings climbed to within one run at 15-14 after a four-run top of the 5th inning (2-run home runs by Morrow and Benson), but Billings pulled away with a single tally in the bottom half of the 5th inning and four more runs in the 6th inning.
Junior relief pitcher Aspen Ison (Gig Harbor, WA/Peninsula) was saddled with the loss allowing 13 hits and 12 runs (8 ER) in 3.1 innings.
MSU Billings 20, Western Washington 14 (Mar 26, 2016 at Billings, MT) (Game 1)----------------------------------------------------------------------Western Washington.. 314 240 0 - 14 17 4 (14-15, 9-10)MSU Billings........ 246 314 X - 20 23 0 (9-18, 2-9)----------------------------------------------------------------------Western Washington - Sellevold, Ison (3), Hawkins,Holly(6) and ClarkMSU Billings - Roark, Dettling (3), Tokach (5) and RoweWin-Dettling (5-6) Save-Tokach (1) Loss-Ison (1-2) T-2:32HR WWU - Morrow (1), Benson 2 (11), Blauser (6)HR MSUB - Devlin (3), Cassinelli 2 (9)Weather: clear, sunny
Western Washington 10, MSU Billings 9 // GAME 2
Box Score| Game Book
Another high-scoring affair ended with the Vikings defeating the Yellowjackets 10-9 to earn the doubleheader split and win the GNAC road series 3-1.
And with 10 combined home runs in the game, it was the pitching performance of freshman Shearyna Labasan (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll) that turned in the performance of the game. Labasan closed the door allowing only 1 one hit and one run in 3.0 innings to record her first collegiate save.
WWU tied a single-game team record belting 5 home runs, including another homer from Benson, and the first career longballs by freshman shortstop Ashley Scott (Bellevue, WA/Interlake) and junior catcher Mackenzie Hughes (Ellensburg, WA).
Levin went 3-for-4 connecting on her second home run of the season and 20th of her career, pulling to within two homers of the WWU career record by Meghan Flem (2007-10).
Benson continues her torrid streak at the plate going 2-for-3 with 5 RBI, and hit her third home run of the day. Her 12 home runs lead the GNAC and extend her single-season WWU record. She also extended her active hitting streak to 15 consecutive games, nearing the WWU record of 18 straight games with a hit.
Barrio equaled the WWU single-game record with 5 hits, going 5-for-5 with 3 runs scored. She joins Misty Britt (4/26/07 vs. Central Washington) as the only 5-hit Vikings in a single game in program history.
The Vikings trailed 7-5 after three innings, but Benson delivered a key three-run home run in the 4th inning to give WWU a lead they would not relinquish.
After a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 5th inning by Kelsey Devlin, Labasan was summoned from the bullpen where she dominated the hot-hitting Yellowjackets the rest of the way.
Junior Shayna Adelstein (Tucson, AZ/Marana Mountain View) earned her first win of the season allowing 10 hits and 8 runs (7 ER) in 4.0 innings.
Devlin was 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored and hit a pair of home runs for MSUB.
Western Washington 10, MSU Billings 9 (Mar 26, 2016 at Billings, MT) (Game 2)----------------------------------------------------------------------Western Washington.. 230 311 0 - 10 15 3 (15-15, 10-10)MSU Billings........ 322 010 1 - 9 11 0 (9-19, 2-10)----------------------------------------------------------------------Western Washington - Adelstein, Labasan (5) and HughesMSU Billings - Tokach, Roark (5) and RoweWin-Adelstein (1-2) Save-Labasan (1) Loss-Tokach (2-3) T-2:25 A-113HR WWU - Levin (2), Benson (12), Hughes, (1), Amundson (1), Scott (1)HR MSUB - Tracy (5), Devlin 2 (5), Cassinell (10)Weather: sunny, clear
