Billings, Mont. – After facing tough competition the first three weeks of the season, Montana State Billings will head into their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule against the reigning conference champion Western Oregon University. The Yellowjackets will head to Monmouth Ore. for their four game series with the Wolves starting on Saturday, March 2.
 
Last week against the No. 24 nationally ranked Dixie State Red Storm, MSUB competed well in every contest, but was plagued by inconsistencies and ended up losing four straight to their highly ranked opponent. The Jackets currently stand at 2-11-1 overall as they enter conference play.
 
As a team MSU Billings, has a .262 batting average (third in the GNAC), a .404 slugging percentage and a .354 on base percentage. Drew Fosnes and Colby Robison have been the most consistent at the plate. Fosnes leads the team in batting average (.353), slugging percentage (.765) and on base percentage (.452). Robison has a team high 15 hits while batting .294. Austin Rue and Bryce Todd both have 10 runs each while Brad Birch leads the team in runs batted in (9) and homeruns (3).
 
The Yellowjackets' pitching staff has been out of sync thus far, attributing for a 7.24 earned run average through 14 contests. They also have 55 strikeouts compared to their opponents 95. Brady Muller has been solid on the mound, leading the team in innings pitched (19.2), strikeouts (15) and earned run average (2.29); he is 1-1 on the year.
 
Following the departure of their head coach Jeremiah Robbins prior to the start of the season; the Wolves have not started 2013 in familiar fashion with an overall record of 5-6. Robbins spent seven seasons as head coach with Western Oregon where he compiled a 252-109 overall record and a 170-34 GNAC mark.
 
While the Wolves are 5-6, they have won their last two contests. Western Oregon has struggled with their offense, recording a .250 batting average, a .299 slugging percentage and a .334 on base percentage thus far in the season. Out of five GNAC teams, the Wolves rank fourth in batting average. Daniel McNabb and Scott David have started their 2013 campaigns off strong; McNabb is batting .404 with 19 hits, 11 runs batted in, a .489 slugging percentage and a .481 on base percentage. David has a .333 batting average with 13 hits, six runs batted in, a .410 slugging percentage and a .458 on base percentage.
 
Despite hitting struggles, Western Oregon has been great on the mound, recording a team earned run average of 4.19 and 74 strikeouts. The Wolves have also held opponents to a .270 batting average; and lead all GNAC teams in the categories mentioned above. Gary Steindorf leads the charge with a 2.12 earned run average, only allowing 18 hits in 17 innings pitched; he also has recorded 16 strikeouts and is 1-0 on the year. Spenser Watkins has also been solid, leading the team with 17 strikeouts and a 3.12 earned run average.
 
“We are excited to get into the GNAC schedule,” stated head coach Rob Bishop. “Opening at Western Oregon is a great opportunity for our program; they are a great program and have set the standard for excellence in our league. We will need to play our best baseball in order to get the result we are looking for. The reason we played such a difficult pre-season schedule was to prepare for this week. I believe our guys will put forth a great effort.”
 
MSUB and Western Oregon start their series with a double-header on March 2 at 12:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). Yellowjackets' fans can click on the links below or the “video” and “live stats” links on the baseball schedule page to catch all of the live action.
 
 
GNAC Web Stream and Live Stats