FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, April 29, 2016 ‘Jacket baseball preps for 9-game GNAC road trip to Oregon
MSUB’s baseball team heads out on the road for nine conference games in an eight-day stretch, as the Yellowjackets fight for a spot in the 2016 GNAC Championships. BILLINGS, Mont. – Nine of the final 13 games on the schedule for the Montana State University Billings baseball team are on the road, as the Yellowjackets head to Oregon this weekend to face Concordia University and Western Oregon University in the span of eight days. A four-game series between the Yellowjackets and Cavaliers is scheduled to run Friday and Saturday at Porter Park in Northeast Portland, with doubleheaders starting at 2 p.m. Mountain time both days. The ‘Jackets will then head south to challenge the Wolves in Monmouth, Ore., with a single 7-inning game on April 27 before a normal four-game series the weekend of April 29-30. The single midweek game is a makeup for the fourth game that was to be played in Billings, Mont., originally on March 27, and the Yellowjackets will play as the home team against the Wolves. MSUB (18-16, 12-13 GNAC) is currently in fourth place in the conference standings and is looking to break into the topthree to earn a berth into the 2016 GNAC Championships, hosted by the regular-season champion. Western Oregon leads the conference race at 19-8 in league play, and has won 14 games in-a-row since a 6-1 loss at MSUB in late March.
MSUB’s first opponent of the road trip, Concordia, is in fifth place in the conference with an overall record of 12-26 and a league mark of 10-18. The Yellowjackets and Cavaliers split a four-game series played at Dehler Park on March 19-20. “We are going to have to play a great series against Concordia,” said MSUB head coach Rob Bishop. “We really just need to go into this first weekend and try to win a series. It’s a tall order for sure, but we are looking forward to the challenge and we can accomplish everything that we want to still at this point in the season.” SEASON-HIGH FOR COOPER: Posting a career-high 13 strikeouts against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, junior Cody Cooper had the most in a single game this season in the entire GNAC. He came up two strikeouts shy of the MSUB and GNAC single-game record of 15, and scattered two runs on eight hits through eight innings. Despite a hard-luck, 2-1 loss as MSUB left 13 runners on base, Cooper continues to lead the conference in strikeouts (72) and innings pitched (70.0), and ranks fifth in earned run average (2.57). Cooper is now seven strikeouts shy of tying the MSUB single-season record, held by 2015 graduate Brady Muller. The junior right-hander also moved into sole possession of third place on the MSUB career strikeouts leaderboard, upping his 3-year total to 130. MSUB Single Season Strikeout Leaders Rk. Name Ks Year 1. Brady Muller 79 2015 2. Cody Cooper 72 2016 3. Brady Muller 64 2013 4. Kody Kennedy 59 2011 5. Kody Kennedy 54 2010 Brian Howe 54 2009 Tanner Johnson 54 2015 MSUB Career Strikeout Leaders Rk. Name Ks 1. Brady Muller 232 2. Brian Howe 143 3. Cody Cooper 130 4. Brian Hutchings 120 5. Kody Kennedy 113 6. Samuel Paterson 98 7. Tanner Johnson 97
Years 2012-15 2008-11 2014-16 2010-12 2010-11 2012-13 2015-16
Junior Cody Cooper leads the GNAC in strikeouts and is seven away from tying the MSUB single-season record of 79.
EXTRA BASES FOR REINSCHMIDT: With hits in each of his last five games, senior center fielder Luke Reinschmidt has raised his average 14 points and is now hitting .323 on the season. In Game 1 against the ‘Saders, Reinschmidt drove his 11th career triple off the wall in center field and scored the team’s only run. He followed in Game 2 with a big two-out, two-run double off the top of the wall in center, barely missing what would have been his second home run of the season off of NNU ace Colton Loomis and seventh overall.
Reinschmidt’s two RBIs kept him atop the conference in that category with 32 on the year, and he remains at No. 9 in GNAC history in career RBIs with 115. Reinschmidt’s triple moved him into sole possession of fourth place in career triples in the GNAC, and he is within reach of the all-time mark of 14 held by Western Oregon’s Joey Price (1999-2002). GNAC Career Triples Leaders Rk. Name School 1. Joey Price Western Oregon 2. Jamie Nilsen Central Washington Shane Schoeneberg Saint Martin’s 4. Luke Reinschmidt MSU Billings 5. Bryce Gardinier Western Oregon Andrew Helmstadter Northwest Nazarene
Triples 14 13 13 11 10 10
Years 1999-2002 2005-08
GNAC Career Runs Batted In Leaders Rk. Name School 1. Greg McCarthy Western Oregon Jamie Nilsen Central Washington 3. Bryce Gardinier Western Oregon 4. Brody Miller MSU Billings 5. Chandler Tracy Saint Martin’s 6. Sean McDonald Northwest Nazarene 7. Matt Lowe Northwest Nazarene 8. Adam Siler Saint Martin’s 9. Luke Reinschmidt MSU Billings 10. Colby Robison MSU Billings
RBIs 183 183 165 158 138 125 124 118 115 111
Years 2002-05 2005-08 2000-03 2012-15 2012-15 2009-12 2000-03 2004-07 2014-16 2011-13
2005, 2007-09
2014-16 2000-03 2014-16
Senior Luke Reinschmidt rounds the second-base bag at Dehler Park on his way to third for the 11th triple of his career last Saturday.
BAKER BACKS COOP WITH FIFTH-STRAIGHT SCORELESS OUTING: Taking the ball from Cooper to pitch the ninth inning Saturday, junior Bryon Baker struck out two of the four batters he faced and blanked the Crusaders. It was Baker’s fifth straight scoreless appearance, and he lowered his ERA on the season to 2.45 through 7 1/3 innings in relief. Since March 4, Baker has allowed just eight baserunners and has six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. “Cody has been great all year, and coming in after him I knew I just had to fill up the strike zone,” Baker said. “Concordia is a tough team but we have a lot of confidence going in there. If we keep pitching and playing good defense we can go in there and get some good results.”
COX UPS AVERAGE TO .300 WITH 3 HITS: In his first season as a hitter, sophomore Adam Cox has been one of the top power presences in the lineup for the ‘Jackets. Cox went 3-for-8 in Saturday’s doubleheader with his ninth double of the season, and he is now batting an even .300 on the year. Fifteen of his 30 hits on the season have gone for extra bases, and he is slugging a team-best .560 with 22 runs batted in. Though he did not earn a save in his relief appearance against the Crusaders, Cox had three strikeouts and allowed just one baserunner in two innings to finish an 8-4 win in Game 2. Cox lowered his ERA to 2.08 on the season, and has 24 strikeouts against just eight walks in 17 1/3 innings as the team’s closer. DURBIN MSUB’S LEADING HITTER: Senior third baseman Kyle Durbin has a seven-game hitting streak and has had at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 games to keep his team-leading average at .359 on the year. Durbin is the secondleading hitter in the GNAC, and is also second in on-base percentage at .449.
Durbin has had 13 multi-hit games this season and is tied with Luke Reinschmidt for the team lead in hits with 42. He needs a dozen more hits to become the ninth player in MSUB modern-day history to reach 100 career hits, as he has 88 through his two seasons with the ‘Jackets. MSUB Career Hits Leaders Rk. Name Hits 1. Brody Miller 249 2. Matt Schoonover 213 3. Luke Reinschmidt 171 4. Colby Robison 168 5. Jeff Ridgeway 131 6. Kevin Toon 126 7. Colter Sternhagen 117 8. Austin Rue 105 9. Jordan Kessler 94 10. Kyle Pryor 89 11. Kyle Durbin 88
Years 2012-15 2007-10 2014-16 2011-13 2008-11 2014-16 2013-16 2011-13 2010-11 2006-07 2015-16
Senior Kyle Durbin is on the verge of becoming the fourth Yellowjacket on this year’s HAPE WITH SEASON-HIGH SEVEN Ks: Junior Matt Hape helped deliver the win in last week’s roster with 100 career hits. split against the Crusaders, as he struck out a season-high seven batters and didn’t walk any through five strong innings. Hape earned his third win of the year, and it was the Yellowjackets’ third straight victory with the right-hander on the mound. Overall on the year Hape has 27 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings, and holds an ERA of 5.94.
MORRIS, STERNHAGEN SOLID UP THE MIDDLE: Seniors Corey Morris and Colter Sternhagen have turned 14 double plays for MSUB this season, and have combined to anchor the Yellowjackets’ veteran infield up the middle. Sternhagen has now gone 30 games and 118 chances since his last error at second base, upping his fielding percentage on the year to .978. With three hits in eight at-bats against NNU – including his team-leading 10th double of the year – Sternhagen is now hitting .284 and is second on the team in RBIs with 23. Eight of the 13 RBIs on the season from Morris have come in the shortstop’s last eight games, a stretch where he is batting 10-for-23 overall at the plate. In the same stretch defensively, Morris has made just two errors in 48 chances. Both Sternhagen and Morris have made their mark among MSUB’s best defensively, as Sternhagen is tied for fifth in career assists with 218 and Morris is right behind with 212. MSUB Career Assists Leaders Rk. Name Assists 1. Brody Miller 477 2. Matt Schoonover 377 3. Colby Robison 359 4. Kyle Pryor 296 5. Cole Pryor 218 Colter Sternhagen 218 7. Corey Morris 212 8. Kyle Durbin 119
Years 2012-15 2007-10 2011-13 2006-07 2008-09 2013-16 2015-16 2015-16
Colter Sternhagen (8) throws to Corey Morris at second base to start one of the tandem’s 14 double plays turned this year.
TOON LEADS OFF, ON BRINK OF PUTOUTS RECORD: Hitting in the leadoff spot in MSUB’s lineup for the first time this season against the Crusaders, senior first baseman Kevin Toon picked up his 31st hit of the year and remained as the GNAC leader with his 24th walk. Though he had limited chances defensively due to the high strikeout totals, Toon made seven plays at first base and needs just two more putouts to break MSUB’s career record of 623 held by Blake Loran. The senior has not made an error this season in 234 chances, and holds a career fielding percentage of .994. “Breaking the record is a testament to the pitchers and the guys around me,” Toon commented on nearing the putouts mark. “I’m just there to catch the ball and pick guys up when they make a bad throw. It’s a credit to our pitchers living down in the zone and getting ground balls, and having good guys around me in the infield.” BUSY WEEKEND FOR PETERSON: Totaling 22 putouts in MSUB’s two games Saturday, sophomore catcher Landon Peterson broke into the school’s career top-10 in putouts with 282 in his second season. Peterson also threw out a baserunner in each game, pushing his GNACleading total of runners caught stealing to 15 on the year. MSUB Career Putouts Leaders Rk. Name PO 1. Blake Loran 623 2. Kevin Toon 622 3. Matt Kakalecik 530 4. Seth Moir 397 5. Jake Samuelson 336 Conner Holbrook 336 7. Blake Nelson 334 8. Brody Miller 316 9. Levi Johnson 301 10. Landon Peterson 282
Years 2011-15 2014-16 2006, 08 2007-08 2006-07 2014-15 2010-12 2012-15 2008-09 2015-16
Senior first baseman Kevin Toon needs two more putouts to set an MSUB career record.
Concordia University Cavaliers Saturday, April 23 – DOUBLEHEADER – 2 PM MTN – Porter Park Sunday, April 24 – DOUBLEHEADER – 2 PM MTN – Porter Park 2016 Record: 12-26, 10-18 GNAC (5th) Head Coach: Rob Vance, 17th season Last Series: MSUB 2, CU 2 (March 19-20, 2016 | Dehler Park | Billings, MT) Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box | Game 3 Box | Game 4 Box The Cavaliers are coming off a 2-4 series at home against Central Washington last week, after getting swept in a four-game road series at Western Oregon on April 9-10. In its first season at the NCAA Division II level, CU is being led by a solid pitching staff and a trio of hitters batting above .300.
On the mound, Austin Hadley and Harrison McGhee have been two of the top arms in the GNAC, and the ‘Cavs won both of their starts in Billings against the ‘Jackets. Hadley ranks sixth overall in the conference with an ERA of 2.68, and has 47 strikeouts against just 16 walks in 40 1/3 innings. McGhee has been nearly as good, with 47 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 39 1/3 innings with a 2.97 ERA. Gerhett Moser leads the team with nine starts on the season and has a 5.93 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 11 walks in a team-high 57 2/3 innings. Moser is also the top hitter on the squad, with a .393 batting average in 56 at bats in 31 games. Mike Martinez has also contributed offensively and defensively, with a .375 average in 24 at-bats and a 6.11 ERA in 28 innings over 10 appearances. Christian Heideger is batting .333 and has a pair of doubles, a triple, and a home run for the ‘Cavs. Jarren Goddard leads the team with 10 extra-base hits, and he and Konner Reddick are tied for the team lead in RBIs with 14. Concordia has totaled just five home runs as a team, and is averaging 3.5 runs per game with a .245 team batting average. The Series: CU holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series, after the teams split in Billings. Last Time Out: MSUB had to rally from being down 11-5 to steal Game 1 12-11 and ultimately split the series. The ‘Jackets were solid in a big 10-3 win behind Cooper, but managed just one run off of Hadley in an 8-1 loss and fell 10-6 against McGhee in the finale.
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