GNAC play starts for Yellowjacket baseball this weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Friday, March 3, 2017 GNAC play starts for Yellowjacket baseball this weekend

MSUB’s baseball team heads to Oregon to kick off a stretch of eight GNAC games in eight days as conference play starts this weekend.

BILLINGS, Mont. – The reigning back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season champion Montana State University Billings baseball team begins its league campaign this weekend, with eight conference games scheduled over an eight-day period on the road coming up.

The Yellowjackets (2-8) will start their 40-game conference slate against Western Oregon University and Saint Martin’s University. Schedule adjustments have been made to accommodate for unplayable conditions at WOU’s home field, as the Yellowjackets and Wolves will meet in Portland, Ore., on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Mountain time. The series will continue on Monday with a doubleheader at Morse Athletic Complex on the campus of George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., starting at noon Mountain time.

MSUB will remain on the road during the school’s Spring Break week, heading north to Lacey, Wash., to take on Saint Martin’s University. The four-game series against the Saints is scheduled to be played as a pair of doubleheaders on March 10 and 11. Both will start at 2 p.m. Mountain time at the SMU Baseball Field.

Live coverage throughout the week will be available online through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.

“The preseason was there for us to really find out who we are as a club, and we played some really good opponents,” said MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton on the team’s 10 non-conference games. “Going into conference play, we feel really confident about the strides we have made. It’s going to be a long trip, but we need to keep our focus in tune with what we are trying to accomplish each day.”

MSUB is coming off three losses at No. 15 Dixie State University last weekend, as the team finished 2-5 against its two nationally-ranked opponents in the non-conference season after two wins over No. 12 Colorado Mesa.

COOPER MOVES INTO GNAC TOP-10: With a season-best eight strikeouts in his last start, senior Cody Cooper upped his career total to 175 and now ranks tied for eighth in GNAC history. The right-hander’s 6-inning outing against the Trailblazers was his longest of the year so far, as he tossed 107 pitches in his third start.

GNAC Career Strikeout Leaders Rank Name Strikeouts 1 Nick Waechter 269 2 Roger Evenson 246 3 Brady Muller 232 4 Steven Schutte 231 5 Mike Ward 223 6 Mike Eisenhauer 185 7 Kirk Lind 179 8 Neil Elder 175 Cody Cooper 175 10 Spenser Watkins 171

School WOU NNU MSUB NNU WOU WOU WOU NNU MSUB WOU

Seasons 2004-06 2003-05 2012-15 2002-04 2007-08, 2010-11 2007-09 2009-12 2000-03 2014-17 2013-14

ROBINSON STAYS HOT: Coming off a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association West Region Player of the Week award, senior leadoff hitter Zach Robinson stayed hot at the plate and kept his season average at a team-high .412.

Robinson picked up four more hits in the Dixie State series, before having a seven-game hitting streak snapped in the finale. Robinson is getting on base at a clip of .474 this season, with a team-high eight runs scored.

FIRST HITS ARE GOLDEN FOR CAJE: Freshman infielder Caje Golden made the most of his first two collegiate hits, homering twice in MSUB’s second game against Dixie State. He is the second player this season to hit multiple home runs in a game, joining teammate Ryan Myers. “Being in the bottom of the lineup, you’re going to see a lot of fastballs,” Golden said regarding his No. 9 spot in the order when he homered twice. “My first at-bat I saw a lot of pitches, so I was prepared for it. Both pitches were fastballs right over the heart of the plate, and I got a good barrel on them.”

HALL HOMERS IN BIG GAME: Junior Kade Hall had his most impressive offensive performance of the season in Game 2 against DSU, homering and collecting four hits in five at-bats and also stealing a base. Hall is batting .333 this year in the middle of the lineup, and his eight RBIs lead the team.

HAPE WORKS INTO SIXTH: Senior Matt Hape followed Cooper’s lead and also posted his longest outing of the year, throwing 107 pitches in 5 2/3 innings in the series finale against Dixie State. Only three of the five runs the righty allowed were earned, and he also struck out a pair.

BAKER, SMITH REMAIN STURDY IN BULLPEN: Bryon Baker posted his third straight scoreless outing out of the bullpen, striking out one batter in one full inning of relief in the series finale. Corbin Smith also posted one scoreless inning in the game, and the duo has not allowed a run in 9 1/3 innings pitched combined.

Western Oregon University Wolves Porter Park | Portland, OR Saturday, March 4 | 1 PM Doubleheader Morse Athletic Complex | Newberg, OR Monday, March 6 | 11 AM Doubleheader 2017 Record: 1-3 Head Coach: Kellen Walker 2016 Record: 31-23, 24-16 GNAC (3rd Place) Despite starting the season in California, half of WOU’s scheduled games were canceled due to weather. The Wolves defeated Fresno Pacific 7-5, before losing to the Thunderbirds 7-0 and dropping an ensuing doubleheader at UC San Diego the following week.

This weekend’s series will count as neutral site competition in Portland and Newberg.

The Wolves will rely on reigning GNAC Pitcher of the Year Brady Miller this season, who has allowed nine runs in 10 innings pitched with seven strikeouts and four walks. The Yellowjackets will likely see the junior right-hander in Game 1, as he is coming off a 3.14 earned run average with 89 strikeouts and 43 walks in 80 1/3 innings in 2016.

Five different Wolves pitchers have made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen in the team’s four games, and as a staff WOU has 24 strikeouts against just 15 walks.

Brock Pradere, Jay Leverett, and Forrest Garcia are some of the top offensive returners for the Wolves, and Justin Wakem is leading the team by starting the year 7-for-13 at the plate. The Wolves played solid defense in their trip to California, and hold a team fielding percentage of .951.

The Series: MSUB is 19-58 all-time against WOU, including a mark of 2-1 in neutral site games. MSUB has won seven of the last nine contests in the series.

Last Time Out: MSUB beat WOU in 4 of 5 games in Monmouth late in the season as part of the Yellowjackets’ run to the regular-season title. MSUB also beat WOU 10-2 in the opening game of the GNAC tournament, but the Wolves dealt the ‘Jackets their final blow with an 18-1 season-ending loss on Day 2 of the championships.

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