Billings, MT – The Simon Fraser University softball team picked up their second Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory of 2015, splitting a double-header on the road with Montana State University – Billings early Saturday afternoon.
 

Simon Fraser dropped the first game of the afternoon 4-2, before bouncing back in the second game with a 10-9 win to improve their conference record at two wins and five losses, moving to an even 11-11 overall record.
 

"Its always a tough first game on this trip heading down on a 15-hour bus ride, but the girls managed to come together in game two to pull out a split on the road," said head coach Mike Renney. "We play Montana again tomorrow and will have to come out hard again like we did in our second game this afternoon."
 

In the first game, the Yellowjackets opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, putting the Clan down early.
 

That score would stand until the bottom of the sixth inning when the home team would add another pair, forcing the Clan to attempt a comeback from their four point deficit.
 

They would get halfway, as in the top of the seventh when a Rachel Proctor home-run brought home Kendra Goodman who had reached on an error by the 'Jackets first-basewoman, bringing the score to 4-2 to open the inning. 
 

"Unfortunately we were unable to capitalize on our opportunities in the first game," Renney continued. "We had a chance to open the game up in several moments but stuffed up in a couple situations, while also playing against some competitive Montana pitchers."
 

The comeback ultimately would end there as a quick double-play brought the game to a close with pitcher Kelsie Hawkins recording the loss.
 

In game two, however, it was Simon Fraser who opened the scoring early, as Proctor, with the bases loaded, was pitched a walk by Montana's Jessyka MacDonald, bringing home Robyn Mogavero.
 

In the bottom of the first the Yellowjackets stormed back, taking a 2-1 lead, but the Clan responded quickly and effectively with eight unanswered runs, three in the top of the second and five in the top of the third.
 

In the second inning Mogavero grounded out to second-base, but brought in Katelyn Cameron to tie the game. Stephanie Caron then scored on a RBI from Taylor Lundrigan before Andrea Gillis came in when again, Proctor was pitched a walk with the bases loaded.
 

In the third, Mogavero started things off for SFU, bringing Cameron in for her second run of the game, before she and Gillis scored on the following plays.
 

Finally, Proctor singled up the middle of the field, before advancing to second on an error by the center fielder bringing in Lundrigan and Danielle Raison to take a 9-2 lead.
 

Montana responded with four runs in the bottom of the third, before a scoreless fourth inning put the Clan in position to win, 9-6.
 

"We are a young team and sometimes with a young team an early lead is not always beneficial," Renney continued. "You start to see the girls get tight trying to protect the lead, which we saw today, but we found a way to hang on."
 

In the fifth, Proctor hit her second home-run of the day, bringing the Clan to a 10-6 lead, but Simon Fraser was held off the score sheet in the final two innings, opening the opportunity for Montana to stage a comeback.

The 'Jackets added a single run in the sixth before a pair in the seventh, falling just short of tying the game.
 

Pitcher Kelsie Hawkins, who earned the win for the Clan, was able to hold the pressing Yellowjackets from earning a tenth run and forcing extra innings, as Simon Fraser held on for the 10-9 victory.
 

"We got that insurance run at 10-6 in the fifth inning and it turned out to be the difference between extra innings and our eventual win," Renney finished. "We had timely clutch hitting from several bats today, and Hawkins found a way to get it done again, but tomorrow we will need to put more on the board." "When we make strong plays on defense like the double-play when we were down at the beginning of the game it gives us that boost we need, so we will need to come out strong with a jump in our step tomorrow." 
 

The Clan had 10 runs on eleven hits in the game, recording only two errors as they prepare for the second double-header of the weekend, held Sunday afternoon again at Montana State-Billings.
 

Fans can follow live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/msub.