Game Notes

 
Billings, Mont. – Montana State Billings baseball team ended the regular season 21-25-1 overall and 17-14 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Yellowjackets, a No. 3 seed, are playing their best baseball as they enter the inaugural GNAC Championship Tournament, held in Monmouth, Ore. May 9-11.
 
MSUB has won five out of their last eight games and ended the 2013 regular season with a three game winning streak. In their last outing, the Jackets defeated Central Washington 3-1 in a series and earned the Red Lion GNAC Team of the Week award for the week of April 22-28. Senior shortstop Colby Robison also brought home the Red Lion GNAC Player of the Week award and NCBWA Player of the Week award this same week. He finished with four home runs and 16 RBIs.
 
While the Jackets face tough competition this upcoming weekend, they are very confident in their play as they have recorded eight combined victories this season over the Wolves and Wildcats. MSU Billings currently ranks No. 1 in the GNAC in slugging percentage (.449), on base percentage (.396), runs scored (297) and RBIs (276). With 18 triples the Yellowjackets also rank first in the conference in triples and No. 17 nationally. The hurlers have also played well this season and rank No. 2 in the GNAC in opposing batting average (.294) and hits allowed (434), and No. 3 in ERA (5.77).
 
Brady Muller (6-3) individually ranks No. 1 in opposing batting average (.225) and No. 2 in ERA (2.83) among GNAC pitchers. He has 61 strikeouts on the year, which ranks fourth in the conference. Samuel Paterson (5-5) has also put in quality work in 2013, ranking No. 6 in the GNAC in opposing batting average (.272), No. 8 in strikeouts (43) and No. 11 in ERA (5.28). The bullpen continues to help close out games with Travis Vincent (4-3) and Bobby Ragasa (0-2) combining for five saves and 41 strikeouts.
 
The Yellowjackets hitting crew has increased their production in the last two series and now rank No. 1 in slugging percentage (.449) and on base percentage (.396) in the GNAC. MSUB also ranks No. 2 in the conference in total team batting average (.303). In the GNAC, Drew Fosnes ranks No. 1 in triples (6), No. 2 in slugging percentage (.645) and No. 6 in RBIs (37). Nationally he ranks No. 9 in triples and No. 28 in slugging percentage. Robison ranks No. 2 in RBIs (50) and total bases (100), No. 3 in hits (63) and home runs (8), and No. 4 in slugging percentage (.559). Nationally he ranks No. 40 in RBIs and No. 48 in home runs. Austin Rue currently holds a 27 game hitting streak and ranks No. 2 in runs scored (41), and No. 3 in batting average (.357) and on base percentage (.446). Brody Miller ranks No. 4 in RBIs (40), No. 6 in hits (59) and No. 8 in runs scored (33).
 
Justin Harcharik (.310), Bryce Todd (.321) and Tanner Watson (.320) are also providing quality offense for the Jackets, as they are all batting over 300 and have a combined 74 hits, 41 runs and 21 RBIs.
 
Western Oregon enters the GNAC Tournament as the highly favored No. 1 seed. The Wolves bring a lot of momentum with them having won their 12th straight regular season GNAC title. While Western has been inconsistent at the plate this season, ranking third in the GNAC in batting average, a large part of the Wolves success goes to the pitching rotation, and defense. Western Oregon ranks No. 1 in the conference in ERA (4.44), opposing batting average (.269) and fielding percentage (.965).
 
Nationally, the Wolves rank No. 52 in fielding percentage. Western has three aces in their deck, anchored by A.J. Burke; on the season he ranks No. 1 in the GNAC in ERA (2.83), strikeouts (82) and innings pitched (82.2). Spenser Watkins and Zach Nuno have also turned in solid numbers on the mound, ranking No. 3 and No. 5 in the conference in ERA. Blake Miller has been the team's and one of the GNAC's best hitter, ranking No. 1 in the conference in batting average (.376), on base percentage (.451), hits (70) and runs scored (47).
 
The Wildcats started the 2013 season strong, but have struggled lately, losing six out of their last eight contests. Despite recent struggles, Central Washington remains one of the most well rounded teams in the GNAC. The Wildcats rank No. 1 in overall batting average (.319) and No. 2 in total team ERA (4.93). Nationally Central ranks No. 19 in hits, No. 34 in batting average and No. 35 in home runs.
 
Kyle Sani has been swinging the lumber in 2013, as he is the nation's leading home run hitter with 18 on the year. He ranks No. 1 in the GNAC in slugging percentage (.724), RBIs (54) and total bases (131). Skye Adams has been the team's best pitcher, ranking No. 4 in the conference in ERA (3.57) and No. 5 in opposing batting average (.266). He has a 5-2 record in 2013.
 
In a round-robin format, MSUB will face No. 1 seed Western Oregon at 10:00 am, and then compete against the No. 2 seed Central Washington at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. Central Washington and Western Oregon will compete at 4:00 p.m. The winners from Thursday's contests will advance to the final on Friday, May 10. If a team suffers two loses, they are eliminated from the tournament; and if all teams end the day at 1-1, the No. 1 seed receives a bye into game five.
 
Yellowjacket fans can stay up to date with the tournament action by following the live stats link listed below.
 
GNAC Championship Tournament Live Stats