BILLINGS, Mont. – After the Yellowjackets on Montana State Billings dropped 18 in the opener, the Saints survived a late-inning scare and secure the doubleheader split with a 7-6 result on Friday.
 
MSU Billings (1-13, 1-5 GNAC) exploded in the first game, scoring 18 runs, highlighted by a three-run game for Daniel Cipriano. On the day, the Yellowjackets slugged 10 home runs on the day to fuel their offense. In the second game, Tanner Inouye silenced the Jackets' bats for most of the game until the final inning. Saint Martin's (4-4, 1-1 GNAC) managed to close the door in the seventh and hold on to a 7-to-6 victory.
 
MSU Billings featured three different five run innings in the first game to quickly take the series opener. Aaron Renaud connected on his third home run of the year in the fourth inning, while Cody Chavis drove in three runs throughout the game. Jake Leonard, and Dakota Hill also managed to produce RBIs as the Saints fell 18-to-7.
 
Saint Martin's quickly answered back, scoring three runs in the opening frame of the second game. After a dropped third strike, and throwing error allowed Ryne Oshiro to score, Hill and Bryant Nakagawa each drove in a run to open up a 3-0 lead.
 
Reid Little and Griffin Williams in the third added a run each to pad the lead to 5-0. The final run support came in the fifth inning on a RBI single from Little, and a sac fly from Braeden McNally.
 
Through five and half innings, Inouye (1-0) was rolling on the mound. The senior had allowed zero runs, and punched out eight batters. It wasn't until a solo blast in the sixth broke up the shutout. Inouye managed to punch one more batter out, ending with nine on the day, before being pulled with one out in the sixth. In the seventh, the Jackets nearly erased a 7-to-1 lead for the Saints, hitting four home runs, but fell short with the tying-run on base.
 
The series finale concludes tomorrow, Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 AM. Live stats and streaming links will be available on smusaints.com.