BILLINGS, Mont. – The Rob Bishop era gets underway this weekend as the Montana State Billings baseball team opens the 2011 regular season with a four-game series at Colorado State-Pueblo this weekend. The series is scheduled for a single game on Friday at 1 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m., and a single game on Sunday scheduled for 11 a.m. All games will be played at the Rawlings Field located on the CSUP campus and admission is free.

 

Bishop became the second coach at MSUB since baseball was reinstated in 2006, as he took over in August for former head coach Chris Brown. Bishop brings a wealth of experience from a very successful run at Miles Community College where he won 10 conference titles, five consecutive regional championships (2006-2010) and a berth in the NJCAA College World Series in 2007.  

 

The Jackets return one starting position player in senior Jordan Kessler who made 39 starts last season hitting .301 with one home run and 23 RBI.  Despite just Kessler returning, a number of other players saw significant action in 2010.  Senior Jeff Ridgeway hit .316 in 21 starts before suffering a season-ending injury. 

 

Seniors Kevin Zukaitis and Sam Kinzeler also return.  Zukaitis led the team with a .362 average as a junior, while Kinzeler hit .232 in 23 games primarily at first base.  Juniors Dusty Noraker and Jonathon Crews also return.

 

On the bump, the Jackets have a majority of their staff back from a season ago.  Senior Kody Kennedy earned second team all-conference honors as a junior with a 4-5 record and a 6.49 ERA.  He led the team in strikeouts with 54 in 59 2/3 innings.  Also back is senior Brian Howe.  Redshirt senior, Archie Smith, returns after earning a medical hardship waiver last year.  Smith earned honorable mention all-league honors in 2009 as a junior.

 

Junior reliever Kyle Gieselmann returns after seeing action in 16 games with three starts last year.  Seniors Andrew Sanchez and Tyler Gilder also return, along with junior Brian Hutchings.  They combined for 45 appearances with 44 in relief.

 

Bishop brought with him juniors Travis Capps (outfielder), Austin Rue (infielder) and Trevor Wilson (utility) who all played at Miles last season.  In addition, catcher Andrew Kachel (Northeastern JC), infielder and pitcher Colby Robison (College of Southern Idaho), infielder Tim Goins (Yakima Valley CC) and outfielder Riley Rosvold (Tacoma CC) join the Yellowjackets this season, just to name a few.

 

MSUB was selected fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2010 season with an 11-35 record overall and an 8-24 mark in conference play. 

 

Western Oregon was again was the favorite among the coaches to repeat as league champion and continue its decade-long domination.  WOU has won nine-straight league titles.  The Wolves received four of five first-place votes and outpointed Northwest Nazarene by six points (24-18).  Saint Martin's was selected third with 16 points and the Saints garnered the other first-place vote.  Central Washington was picked fourth with 12 points, followed by the Yellowjackets with five points.

 

The Colorado State-Pueblo Thunderwolves enter the 2011 season after a 23-24 campaign in 2010. CSUP finished second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Plains Division with a 16-15 record. In 2009, the Thunderwolves went 41-22 and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. 

 

The 2011 edition was selected third in the Mountain Division in the Coaches' Poll and fourth overall in the RMAC. Senior pitcher, Cole Stephens, was named to the 2011 RMAC Preseason All-Conference Team. Stephens went 4-4 with a 5.33 ERA as a junior. He saw action in 13 games with seven starts and three complete games. He led the team in innings pitched at a 50.2 clip. 

 

The Thunderwolves hit an impressive .330 last year as a team. They had 491 hits and 139 extra-base hits and slugged .468. Senior catcher Kyle Wagner returns after hitting .356 with 32 hits, six doubles and three home runs as a junior.

 

This is the first series with CSUP since baseball was reinstated at MSUB. The Jackets are 4-3 against teams from the RMAC as they are 3-0 against Colorado Christian and are 1-3 against Metro State. Colorado Christian plays at MSUB Mar. 29-30, 2011, for a three-game series.

 

Fans can access live stats of each game by logging on to http://www.csupthunderwolves.com/baseball/xlive.htm. 

 

The Yellowjackets play their first 21 games away from Dehler Park, before returning home to host Western Oregon for a four-game series Mar. 25-26.