BILLINGS, Mont. – The 2011 Montana State Billings baseball season comes to a close this weekend with a four game, Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Western Oregon University. The series is scheduled for doubleheaders Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m. and 12 p.m. Pacific time, respectively.
The Yellowjackets stand at 18-25 on the year and 9-19 in the GNAC and will finish the season in fourth place in the league standings, after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches' poll. Western Oregon, who clinched its 10th-straight league title, stands at 33-13 overall and 23-5 in conference play. The Wolves currently are ranked second in the West Region.
With at least a split versus the Wolves, the Yellowjackets would finish with 20 or more wins for the third time in six seasons since baseball was brought back as an intercollegiate sport in 2006.
On Alumni and Senior Weekend, the Yellowjackets split a four game series with Central Washington this past weekend. The Jackets won the first two games, while the Wildcats won the final two. MSUB had an impressive opening doubleheader on Friday as it hit .441 winning 8-5 and 11-8 scoring 19 runs and belting 30 hits. The Jackets held CWU to just .233 hitting in the twinbill.
Saturday's doubleheader was the complete opposite as it was CWU who had the hot bats hitting .438, while the Jackets hit just .254. MSUB was outscored 23-8 in the doubleheader (18-5, 5-3) and outhit 32-16. The Yellowjacket pitching really struggled on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Jackets honored 11 seniors playing in their final home games in a Yellowjacket uniform prior to the first pitch. The 2011 senior class includes: Tyler Gilder, Brian Howe, Kody Kennedy, Jordan Kessler, Sam Kinzeler, Jeff Ridgeway, Andrew Sanchez, Archie Smith, Chris Stine, Jacob Vulk and Kevin Zukaitis.
Ridgeway earned Co-GNAC Player of the Week honors for his efforts against the Wildcats. He went 8 for 16 and drove in three runs. Ridgeway had two triples and a double as he moved into second all-time in school history in triples in his career with seven. He is two behind former Yellowjacket Cole Pryor (2007-2009) who owns the school-record with nine, three-baggers.
Ridgeway slugged .813 for the week, collecting 13 total bases and scored three times. He reached base at a .529 clip and had 14 putouts with no errors in the field. He raised his average from .320 to .340 over the weekend.
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is sophomore Colby Robison who leads the team with a .344 average. He is the only Yellowjacket to play and start all 43 games this season. Robison leads the team with 28 runs scored, 55 hits, 13 doubles, five triples, 33 RBIs and 84 total bases. He is second in home runs with two and second in slugging percentage at a .525 clip.
Robison broke the school record for triples in a season this year as he has five three-baggers in his first season as a Yellowjacket. Robison is a perfect 10 for 10 in stolen bases. Ridgeway is second in average at a .340 clip. He also has scored 28 runs and is second in hits (49), doubles (10, triples (3), RBIs (22) and total bases (77). He leads the team with four home runs and is slugging a team-high .535.
Kessler is third in average at a .318 clip and is tied for second in hits with 49 to go along with 21 RBI. Stine is having a fine senior campaign as he is hitting .313 with five doubles and 12 RBI. He is slugging .364 which is good for fourth on the team.
The Jackets increased their hitting by over 10 percentage points over the weekend. MSUB was hitting .260 entering the Central Washington series and now is hitting .272. The Jackets have 366 hits on the year with 68 doubles, 11 triples and nine home runs. MSUB is slugging .359 and reaching base at a .351 clip. The Jackets have a .959 fielding percentage with 61 errors leading to 44 unearned runs.
On the mound, the Jackets are led by junior Brian Hutchings who is 4-5 on the year with a team-best 4.02 ERA in 11 starts. He leads the team with 65 innings pitched and is second in strikeouts with 48. Hutchings has one complete game. Smith is second in ERA at a 4.03 mark. He is 4-2 on the year in 12 relief appearances and he has one save. Smith has thrown 29 innings with 26 strikeouts as teams are hitting a team-low .196 against him.
Junior Kyle Gieselman is 2-2 on the year with a 4.20 ERA in a team-high 17 appearances with two starts. Gieselman has pitched 40.2 innings which is good for third on the team. Howe leads team with a school, single-season record seven saves. He now is tied for first all-time in saves with seven in his career with former Yellowjacket Mike Cease. Kennedy leads the team with 55 strikeouts on the year.
As a staff, the Jackets have a 5.88 ERA in 339.2 innings. They have allowed 390 hits, with 266 runs and 222 earned runs. They have walked 164 and fanned 254 as teams are hitting .296 against them.
WOU is led by Bo Folkinga who leads the team with a .385 average. He has 47 hits with 10 doubles, one home run and 17 RBIs. Eric Copenhagen is second in average at a .355 average, while Daniel Dillard is hitting .333 with a team-high 58 hits, 13 doubles and 10 home runs. He is slugging a team-high .580 and is reaching base at a .406 clip. Six other WOU players are hitting .300 or better as the team is hitting an even .300 for the year.
The Wolves' pitching staff is equally as talented as Grady Wood earned GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors after he tossed a one-hitter against Northwest Nazarene over the weekend. Kirk Lind leads the team and the conference with a 1.71 ERA and is 6-1 on the year. Wood is 7-4 with a 2.29 ERA as he leads the team with 86.1 innings pitched. Wood is second in strikeouts with 62.
The WOU staff carries a GNAC-best 2.94 ERA and has fanned 284 and walked just 127 in 379 innings of work. The Wolves have allowed just 159 runs with 124 earned runs. Their 57 errors have led to 35 runs.
WOU has won eight-straight in the series and 11 of 13 and leads the all-time series 25-4. The Jackets' last win came Mar. 13-14 in Monmouth as they split a four-game set marking the first time in school history MSUB had won two games in a series against the Wolves. WOU leads 9-3 in Monmouth and leads 15-1 in Billings. The Wolves also have one neutral site win.
The Wolves outscored the Yellowjackets 41-8 in the first meeting this season in Billings (Apr. 23-24), as the Jackets hit just .231, while WOU hit .331. WOU belted four home runs and had a 1.69 ERA for the series.
