BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings baseball team hosts league-leading Saint Martin's University in a key Great Northwest Athletic Conference series this Sunday and Monday at Dehler Park.  Both days are doubleheaders and game time is set for 1 p.m. each day.

MSUB is coming off of 7-6 and 4-2 wins over Minot State Wednesday in the 2011 home opener. The Jackets tallied three runs in the bottom of the seventh of the opener to force extra innings and won the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Junior pitcher, Brian Hutchings, earned his third win of the season in the nightcap going six innings allowing two earned runs on three hits with four walks and he fanned six.  Senior Brian Howe picked up his fifth save of the season.

Sophomore Colby Robison led the way offensively going 4 for 7 in the twin bill with two runs scored, two doubles, one triple and four RBI.  Robison came into the series in a bit of a slump hitting just 5 for his last 29.  Senior Jordan Kessler hit .429 as he was 3 for 7 with three RBI.

The Yellowjackets moved over the .500 mark for the third time this season with the wins.  MSUB stands at 14-13 overall and 5-7 in league play.  Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Robison who leads the team with a .356 average.  He leads the team with 36 hits, nine doubles, four triples, and 28 RBI.  Robison is slugging a team-high .584 and is reaching base at a .422 clip.  Second on the team in average is senior Jeff Ridgeway, who is hitting .315 on the year.  Ridgeway also is second on the team in hits with 28 and leads the team with four home runs.  He is slugging .506 on the year and reaching base at a .315 clip.

As a team, MSUB is hitting .270 on the year with 228 hits, including 42 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs.  The Jackets are slugging .361 on the year and reaching base 36.2 percent of the time.  They have committed 41 errors for a .955 fielding percentage.

On the bump, the Yellowjackets are led by Hutchings who leads the team with a 3-2 record in seven starts.  He has pitched a team-high 40 innings and is second on the team in strikeouts with 28.  Senior Archie Smith is 4-1 on the year in nine relief appearances.  Junior Kody Kennedy leads the team with 34 strikeouts, while junior Zachary Smith is 3-1 in six starts and is second in innings pitched with 31.

As a staff, MSUB has a 5.20 ERA in 207.2 innings.  They have allowed 231 hits with 142 runs including 120 earned runs, 91 walks and 157 strikeouts.  The opposition is hitting .286 against MSUB, while 41 errors have led to 22 unearned runs.

Saint Martin's has been the surprise of the league thus far with a 17-14 record overall and a league-best 13-3 mark in the GNAC.  The Saints are led by Andrew Elke who leads the team hitting .344 on the year with a team-high 32 hits.  Aaron Johnson leads the team with 10 doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI.  He is slugging a team-high .443 and reaching base at a .422 average. 

As a team, the Saints are hitting .259 on the year with 249 hits including 40 doubles, five triples, seven home runs and 121 RBI.  The team is slugging .333 and reaching base at a .364 clip.  They have committed 44 errors for a .960 fielding percentage. 

The Saints' staff carries a 3.95 ERA into the series in 250.1 innings of work.  They have allowed 248 hits with 135 runs and 110 earned runs.  They have walked 97 and fanned 162 as the opposition is hitting .260 against them.  The 44 errors have led to 25 unearned runs. 

Michael McIver leads the staff with a 5-2 record and a 2.49 ERA in seven starts.  He leads the team with 43.1 innings of work as he has allowed 41 hits, five walks and fanned 30 as the opposition is hitting .252 against him.  Tommy DeBoer is 4-2 on the year in nine appearances with seven starts and carries a 2.52 ERA.  He has one complete game with a shutout and two combination shutouts in 39.1 innings.  The opposition is hitting just .188 against him.

Saint Martin's won all four meetings in Lacey, Wash., earlier this season and owns a 23-4 record all-time in the series.  The Saints have won eight-straight as the Jackets last won 7-1 on Mar. 7, 2010, in Lacey.  MSUB has not defeated Saint Martin's in Billings since a 9-5 win on Mar. 20, 2009.  SMU is 9-1 all-time in Billings.

In the earlier series this season, the Saints held the Jackets to just .179 hitting on 20 of 112 from the plate.  SMU hit .275 on 28 of 102.  The Jackets had just five extra-base hits in the series as Ridgeway led the way going 4 for 12 with a run scored and a grand slam. 

The Yellowjackets committed six errors leading to seven unearned runs and a 4.50 ERA.  Walks also proved to be costly for the Jackets as they allowed 23 free passes and fanned just 13.  SMU walked 12 and fanned 27 Jackets.  MSUB was outscored 21-10 in the four games.