BILLINGS Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Baseball team hits the road for the seventh straight week for a four game series against Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Central Washington University March 22nd and 23rd. 

They Yellowjackets (4-16, 3-5 GNAC) are coming off of a four game series against Saint Martin's University in which the team split wins 2-2.  SMU swept the first day games after MSUB only managed 6 total runs in the first two games.  MSUB bounced back and took both games on the second day from SMU.  MSUB scored a combined 19 total runs in the two games. 

Kevin Toon was named GNAC Player of the Week for his performance against SMU.  Toon batted .615 (8-for-13) as the Yellowjackets split four games with Saint Martin's.  He scored six runs and also had four doubles, five RBI and a dozen total bases. Toon slugged .923 while drawing three walks, being hit by a pitch and striking out just once. His .706 on-base percentage (12-for-17) led the conference and was more than 100 points higher than the next closest player. 

Brody Miller continues to lead MSUB as he is first in the GNAC in batting, hitting .408 on the season.  He is third in the GNAC in slugging percentage with 5.49, first in on base percentage (.511) and tied for first with hits (29).  He has two home runs on the season and 12 RBI's. 

Toon is second on the team batting .342 which is fifth best in the conference.  He has 13 hits on the year with five doubles (tied for 7th in the GNAC in doubles) and eight RBI's.  Brad Birch is batting .232 on the year and is tied with Miller with two homeruns and leads MSUB with 14 RBI's.  He is 10th in the league in slugging percentage (.435) and is tied for third with doubles (6).

Luke Reinschmidt is third for the team in batting hitting .270.  He is 14th in the GNAC with 14 hits and tied for first with two triples on the season.  He also has 7 RBI's so far this year.

Trevor Nix is hitting .250 so far this season; Bret Bitow is batting .235 and is also tied for first in the GNAC with two triples.  Other notable batting percentages are: Blake Loran .225, Casey Merritt .222, Steven DeYoung .216, Connor Holbrook .194 and Drew Fosnes .167.

Matt Eams and Drew Christina are 12th and 13th respectively in the GNAC with ERA's of 5.61 and 5.79.  Eames leads MSUB in innings pitched with 25.2.  In those innings, he has 10 strikeouts and allowed 19 runs on 28 hits.  Christina has put in 23.1 innings of work while allowing20 runs on 28 hits and is tied for the team lead with 22 strikeouts.

Amongst closers and relievers, the Yellowjackets are led by Jordan Knoll who has an ERA of 2.70.  In 10.0 innings pitched he has only allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out eight opponents.  Jake Mills has struck out 14 batters and in 17.2 innings has allowed 22 hits but only six runs.       

"We are looking forward to a tough series at Central," head Coach Rob Bishop said.  "They are pitching and playing extremely well right now and we will definitely have our hands full.   Each weekend in GNAC play is crucial and we recognize that every win on the road is even more valuable.  We have finally had a few days outside to practice this week so I believe our best baseball is ahead of us.  Hopefully this is the week that we see a jump in our individual and collective performance."  

CWU (8-9, 3-5 GNAC) won their only game last week, defeating NCAA Division III opponent Whitworth 15-5 at home. Joel Johnson was 3-for-5 with four runs batted in, and Cameron Harper drove in three runs with a home run as well.  Johnson also leads the Wildcats in hitting with a .429.  Kasey Bielec leads CWU with 10 RBI's and has three homeruns this season. 

CWU carries four of the top 14 pitchers in the league.  Of those four, Kurtis Pitcher is second in the GNAC with an ERA of 1.93. 

The first pitch on both Mar. 22nd and 23rd are scheduled to be thrown out at 12:00 PM with two games being played each day.  On both days, the first game will be nine innings and the second game will be seven innings.  For stats visit http://www.wildcatsports.com/.