BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings baseball team is scheduled to host league-leading Western Oregon University in a four-game, Great Northwest Athletic Conference series scheduled for 1 p.m. doubleheader starts on both Saturday and Sunday at Dehler Park.
The Yellowjackets enter the series with a 16-19 record overall and a 7-13 mark in conference play. WOU enters with a 23-11 record and a 13-3 mark in the GNAC. The Wolves are tied with Saint Martin's for the league-lead, but have a .104 percent-point lead over SMU as they have played four fewer conference games than the Saints. WOU currently is third in the latest NCAA Division II West Region poll.
Last weekend, the Yellowjackets split a four game series with Northwest Nazarene at Dehler Park. NNU won the opener Friday in comeback fashion, 7-4 and the nightcap 6-0. Saturday, it was the Jackets' turn to pull the late-game heroics as they came from behind to defeat the Crusaders 4-3 in 13 innings with a walk-off solo home run from junior Trevor Wilson after tying the game in the bottom of the ninth. The 13-inning affair was the longest game in school history in terms of innings and the second longest in conference history.
In the nightcap, the Jackets won in the bottom of the seventh on a bases loaded strikeout/wild pitch scenario for a 2-1 win. Sophomore Colby Robison scored the winning run as he began the inning with a triple, breaking the school record for triples in a season with his fifth 3-bagger.
Leading the way for the Jackets this season is Robison who leads the team playing and starting all 35 games. He has a team-high .331 average with a team-best 44 hits. Robison is second in runs scored with 24, while he leads the team in doubles (11), triples (5), and RBIs with 29. Robison is slugging a team-high .543 and is reaching base at a .392 clip. He is a perfect 7 for 7 in stolen bases.
Second on the team in average is junior Zach Smith at a .324 clip in 13 games with 12 starts. Smith also sees action on the mound for the Yellowjackets. Senior Jeff Ridgeway has a .319 average in 33 starts for the Jackets. He leads the team with 25 runs scored, third in hits and doubles with 37 and seven, respectively. Ridgeway leads the team with four home runs. He is just two home runs away from tying the school record for home runs in a season (6) set by Joe Via in 2009. Ridgeway is tied for second all-time in career round-trippers with Matt Schoonover with eight. Via leads the schools' annals with 11.
Senior Jordan Kessler is third in average at a .309 clip in 32 games with 31 starts. Kessler is second on the team in hits with 38 and is tied for third with 17 RBIs. Freshman Dillon Ness is second in RBIs with 18.
As a team, the Jackets are hitting .267 on the year with 292 hits, 56 doubles, nine triples, nine home runs and 148 RBIs. MSUB is slugging .359 on the year, while reaching base at a .353 clip. The Jackets have committed 54 errors for a .946 fielding percentage leading to 32 unearned runs.
On the mound, the pitching staff has been quite an improvement from last year as the Jackets have a 5.13 ERA which is the lowest ERA through 35 games in school history. Junior Brian Hutchings leads the starting rotation with a 3.71 ERA and a 4-3 record in nine starts and a team-high 53.2 innings of work. He is second on the team in strikeouts with 38. Reliever, senior Archie Smith, is 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA in 10 relief appearances. He has worked 25.1 innings with 23 strikeouts and almost has a 3:1 ratio in strikeouts to walks (23-8) and has one save. Smith's (Archie) younger brother, Zack, is 3-2 on the bump in eight starts and is tied for second in innings pitched with 43.1. He has fanned 27 opponents which is third-most on the team. Senior Brian Howe is 2-0 on the year in 11 relief appearances and leads the team with five saves in 15.1 innings of work.
As a staff, the Jackets have allowed 303 hits in 275.2 innings of work. They have walked 126 and fanned 206, while surrendering 189 runs, with a 157 earned. The opposition is hitting .286 against them.
Western Oregon enters the series after a convincing four-game sweep of Saint Martin's Sunday and Monday to pull into a tie atop the GNAC standings. SMU won all eight games versus MSUB this year.
The Wolves enter winner of seven-straight propelled by their pitching staff as they have allowed three runs or less during their seven game winning-streak, and in each of their last 14 wins. Offensively, the Wolves are led by Bo Folkinga who leads the team and conference in batting average. Folkinga is second on the team in hits with 39, has a team-high .527 slugging percentage and a team-best .472 on-base average.
Second on the team in average is Aaron Headrick who is the reigning GNAC Player of the Week. Headrick is hitting .350 for the season and is tied for the team-lead in hits with 41. He has a conference-best 15 doubles on the year and is second on the team in RBIs with 21. Headrick went 8 for 14 in the series sweep of SMU and either scored or drove in 12 of 26 runs scored by the Wolves. Daniel Dillard is hitting .320 on the year with 41 hits and leads the team and conference with six home runs. He has a team-high 35 RBIs and is slugging .516 on the year. He also is 16 of 20 in stolen bases to lead the squad.
As a team, the Wolves are hitting .294 to lead the league. They have a league-high 77 extra base hits including 65 doubles, two triples and 10 dingers. They are slugging .384 and are reaching base at a .376 clip. WOU has committed 41 errors for a .967 fielding percentage leading to 29 unearned runs.
On the mound, the Wolves have been equally impressive as they have a league-best 3.17 ERA. Kirk Lind leads the team with a 1.27 average and a 3-1 mark in 13 appearances and three starts. He has five saves and one complete game in 35.1 innings of work. Lind has 25 strikeouts which is good for fourth-best on the team and just eight walks. The opposition is hitting just .165 against Lind. Grady Wood leads the starters with a 2.74 ERA in nine starts. Wood lead the team with 62.1 innings pitched and is second in strikeouts with 38. Michael Ward leads the team in wins with five (5-3) and has a 2.80 ERA in nine starts. He is second in innings pitched at 61.0 and leads the team with 42 strikeouts and just eight walks.
Cam Nobles is the reigning GNAC Pitcher of the Week as he allowed just one earned run in eight innings of an extra-inning game against the Saints last weekend. In his last two starts, he has held his opponents to 11 hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out nine in 14 innings of work. Nobles is 4-2 on the year with a 3.51 ERA in 41 innings.
As a staff, WOU has a 3.17 ERA which ranks 28th nationally in Division II. The Wolves have pitched 284 innings and allowed 270 hits with 129 runs and 100 earned runs. They have walked 106 and fanned 203 for almost a 2:1 ratio in strikeouts to walks. The opposition is hitting just .255 against them which is the lowest opponent batting average in the GNAC.
WOU leads the all-time series 21-4 and had won the last four straight and 14 of 17. WOU leads 11-1 in Billings and has won five-straight in Billings. MSUB's last win at home came in a 3-2 win May 8, 2009. The Jackets split a four-game series at WOU last year (Mar. 13-14, 2010) for the first time in school history. The Wolves lead the series 9-3 in Monmouth and 1-0 in neutral site games.
