Reinschmidt, Johnson sweep GNAC Player of the Week honors for MSUB baseball

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Monday, February 15, 2016 Reinschmidt, Johnson sweep GNAC Player of the Week honors for MSUB baseball

Posting standout weekends in their 2016 debut, seniors Luke Reinschmidt and Tanner Johnson earn GNAC Player and Pitcher of the Week honors announced Monday.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Standout performances from two of Montana State University Billings’ National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason all-region selections has resulted in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors for Yellowjacket seniors Luke Reinschmidt and Tanner Johnson announced by the conference office Monday.

Johnson earned the Pitcher of the Week honor for the second time in his career, while Reinschmidt was honored for the third time in his career.

Tossing eight shutout innings in his 2016 debut, Johnson struck out five and walked just one as he led MSUB to a seasonopening 3-0 win over Holy Names University on Friday. Johnson gave up just four hits in his first outing of the season, and only two runners reached second base with none advancing to third.

Over his first five games of the year, Reinschmidt led his team with eight hits and eight RBIs, as half of his hits went for extra bases. Reinschmidt scored three runs, and racked up 15 total bases with two doubles, a triple, and his first home

run of the season. He also drew a walk and stole a base in his only attempt, and was perfect on 10 chances defensively in center field.

In MSUB’s 10-5 win over Holy Names on Sunday, Reinschmidt went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, before going 3-for-6 and driving in three more in the Yellowjackets’ 10-9, extra-inning loss to Dixie State in the series finale.

Both players were first-team all-GNAC picks last season, and Reinschmidt was a first-team all-region selection by the NCBWA. In the preseason, Johnson earned second-team all-NCBWA honors while Reinschmidt was a first-team allregion and third-team All-America selection.

Reinschmidt earned GNAC Player of the Week last season, by hitting four home runs and driving in 19 during an eightgame stretch early on in the season. The effort ultimately culminated in the first-ever NCBWA National Player of the Week honor for a Yellowjacket. The senior also earned GNAC Player of the Week honors two seasons ago, when he became the third player in GNAC history to hit for the cycle during the 2014 season.

Johnson’s first Player of the Week honor came last season, when he struck out 10 in a 3-hit shutout of Northwest Nazarene University on April 25 at Dehler Park.

Both players are now eligible for the NCBWA west region Player of the Week honor, which will be voted on Monday by the organization.

MSUB (2-3) continues its season this weekend with a four-game series at Metro State University running Friday through Sunday.

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