BILLINGS, Mont. – Having won seven of their last eight games, the Montana State University Billings baseball team is currently playing some of their best baseball and they will need to continue to play well this weekend as they hit the road for a tough road challenge. After hosting home games for the past two weeks, the Yellowjackets will travel to 26^th-ranked Western Oregon University for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheaders this weekend.
 
Last weekend, the 'Jackets (11-11, 4-6 GNAC) earned the series win over the Wildcats of Central Washington University as they went 3-1 over the two-day series. MSUB started the series with an 11-10 victory and backed that up with a 4-2 win in the second game of the Friday doubleheader. The next day, the Wildcats bounced back with a 15-12 victory but MSUB clawed their way back to win the series off a walk-off double which capped off a 6-5 victory.
 
Following last weekend's stout performances, MSUB had two players earn weekly conference honors as Blake Loran and Brian Hutchings were named the GNAC's Player- and Pitcher-of-the-Week.
 
A 6-0 sophomore from Billings, Loran had the most prolific outing at the plate for the 'Jackets last weekend as he went 5-for-9 while knocking in six runs and scoring another himself in just three games. He was also the hero in Friday's series opener as he knocked a three-run, walk-off home run to give MSUB an 11-10 win over the Wildcats. He went 3-for-5 in that game with five RBIs and the lone run scored off his homer.
 
Hutchings was the hero in Friday's second game as he put the team squarely on his shoulders and pitched the Yellowjackets to a 4-2 victory. A senior right-handed pitcher from San Luis Obispo, Calif., “Hutch” went all seven innings on the mound and retired seven Wildcats while walking just one to improve to 2-2 for the season.
 
Freshman Ty Gilmore currently leads the team and the conference with a .392 batting average and a .495 on-base percentage. The 5-9 Billings West High School product leads the team with 35 total bases, 31 hits, 19 runs scored and four doubles while Colby Robison is tied at the top of the conference with WOU's David Amberson with nine steals.
 
This weekend, the baseball squad will travel to Monmouth, Ore. where they will look to take on the Wolves of nationally-ranked Western Oregon who are currently 20-7 overall and lead the conference race with a 9-1 record. The Wolves are also No. 3 in the most recent West Region poll.
 
The Wolves boast the league's best team earned run average, 3.34, led by Grady Wood's conference-best 1.21 ERA and 7-0 record. He also leads the league with 52 innings pitched, 48 strikeouts and a .166 opponent batting average.
 
Offensively, WOU is led by Bo Folkinga's GNAC-best 35 RBIs and 13 doubles as well as Blake Miller's .392 batting average.
 
Saturday's games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. while the doubleheader on Easter Sunday will commence at high noon. Both times are Pacific time.