FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, August 25, 2015 2016 MSUB baseball schedule announced
MSUB head coach Rob Bishop unveils his team’s 2016 schedule, as the Yellowjackets will set out to defend their 2015 GNAC regular season title beginning in February. BILLINGS, Mont. – The defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Montana State University Billings baseball team will kick off its 2016 campaign in February, and the team’s full slate of 49 games has been announced by head coach Rob Bishop. “Our 2016 schedule will be a great challenge for our program,” commented Bishop, the 2015 GNAC Coach of the Year. “Playing Dixie State, Holy Names, and Metro State will give us a strong division two nonconference schedule, and the addition of Concordia to our league makes the GNAC even stronger than it has been.” Finishing the season at 27-23 and 22-10 in conference play in 2015, the Yellowjackets won 20 of their final 25 games to win their first-ever GNAC title and complete the first winning season since the baseball program was reinstated at MSUB prior to 2006.
The conference portion of MSUB’s schedule is based around 10 four-game series against the other five GNAC opponents. For the first time in 2016, new member Concordia University will play a full slate of games, upping the number of GNAC teams which compete in baseball to six. The 2016 GNAC Baseball Championships are set to run May 12-14 and will be hosted by the regular season champion. When Concordia completes its provisional membership period with the NCAA, beginning in the 2018 season the GNAC tournament champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Region Championships. This year’s regional championships are slated for May 19-22, with the top six teams from the west region advancing and the No. 1 seed earning hosting rights.
The Yellowjackets will kick off their spring season in early February with five games against Holy Names University (Calif.) and Dixie State University from Feb. 12-14 at Bruce Hurst Field in St. George, Utah. MSUB will then have a four-game tilt against Metro State University in Denver, Colo., from Feb. 19-21 as its final tune up before beginning GNAC play. After playing its first 17 games – including its first two GNAC series against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene – on the road, MSUB will welcome Concordia and Western Oregon for back-to-back home series from March 19-26 at Dehler Park in Billings. A four-game stint at Saint Martin’s in Lacey, Wash., interrupts the homestand, as MSUB will return to Billings to host Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene from April 8-16. The Yellowjackets’ final road trip of the season figures to be a crucial one, as the ‘Jackets will take on reigning GNAC tournament champion Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore., and head straight to Portland to face Concordia in an eight-game stretch over April 23-30. Last year, MSUB claimed the regular season title over the Wolves by a single game on the final day of the season. The 2016 regular season wraps up at home, with four games against Saint Martin’s on May 6-7. MSUB’s graduating seniors will be honored during the final homestand of the season. All of MSUB’s home contests will feature live video with play-by-play commentary as well as live statistics via MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal. Select road contests will also feature live video and/or live statistics, all of which can be found online via www.msubsports.com.
Day Friday Friday Saturday Sunday Sunday Friday Saturday Saturday Sunday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday Sunday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Thurs.-Sat. Thurs.-Sun.
Date Feb. 12 Feb. 12 Feb. 13 Feb. 14 Feb. 14 Feb. 19 Feb. 20 Feb. 20 Feb. 21 Mar. 4 Mar. 4 Mar. 5 Mar. 5 Mar. 11 Mar. 11 Mar. 12 Mar. 12 Mar. 19 Mar. 19 Mar. 20 Mar. 20 Mar. 25 Mar. 25 Mar. 26 Mar. 26 Apr. 2 Apr. 2 Apr. 3 Apr. 3 Apr. 8 Apr. 8 Apr. 9 Apr. 9 Apr. 15 Apr. 15 Apr. 16 Apr. 16 Apr. 23 Apr. 23 Apr. 24 Apr. 24 Apr. 29 Apr. 29 Apr. 30 Apr. 30 May 6 May 6 May 7 May 7 May 12-14 May 19-22
2016 MSUB Yellowjackets Baseball Schedule Opponent Location vs. Holy Names (at DSU) St. George, UT at Dixie State St. George, UT vs. Holy Names (at DSU) St. George, UT vs. Holy Names (at DSU) St. George, UT at Dixie State St. George, UT at Metro State Denver, CO at Metro State Denver, CO at Metro State (7 Inn.) Denver, CO at Metro State Denver, CO at Central Washington * Ellensburg, WA at Central Washington (7 Inn.) * Ellensburg, WA at Central Washington * Ellensburg, WA at Central Washington (7 Inn.) * Ellensburg, WA at Northwest Nazarene * Nampa, ID at Northwest Nazarene (7 Inn.) * Nampa, ID at Northwest Nazarene * Nampa, ID at Northwest Nazarene (7 Inn.) * Nampa, ID Concordia (Ore.) * Billings, MT Concordia (Ore.) (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Concordia (Ore.) * Billings, MT Concordia (Ore.) (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Western Oregon * Billings, MT Western Oregon (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Western Oregon * Billings, MT Western Oregon (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT at Saint Martin’s * Lacey, WA at Saint Martin’s (7 Inn.) * Lacey, WA at Saint Martin’s * Lacey, WA at Saint Martin’s (7 Inn.) * Lacey, WA Central Washington * Billings, MT Central Washington (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Central Washington * Billings, MT Central Washington (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Northwest Nazarene * Billings, MT Northwest Nazarene (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Northwest Nazarene * Billings, MT Northwest Nazarene (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT at Western Oregon * Monmouth, OR at Western Oregon (7 Inn.) * Monmouth, OR at Western Oregon * Monmouth, OR at Western Oregon (7 Inn.) * Monmouth, OR at Concordia (Ore.) * Portland, OR at Concordia (Ore.) (7 Inn.) * Portland, OR at Concordia (Ore.) * Portland, OR at Concordia (Ore.) (7 Inn.) * Portland, OR Saint Martin’s * Billings, MT Saint Martin’s (7 Inn.) * Billings, MT Saint Martin’s *+ Billings, MT Saint Martin’s (7 Inn.) *+ Billings, MT GNAC Championships TBA NCAA Regional Championships TBA
* - Great Northwest Athletic Conference Game + - Senior Day Home games in bold and played at Dehler Park.
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Time (Local) 3:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 12 p.m. 3:30 p.m. TBA TBA TBA TBA 12 p.m. 3 p.m. 12 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 12 p.m. 3 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. TBA TBA