BILLINGS, Mont. – After matching one another performance wise on the diamond last week each with four-game road sweeps, co-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Teams of the Week Montana State University Billings and Saint Martin's University will square off in a four-game baseball set this weekend in the Yellowjackets' 2015 home opener at Dehler Park Friday and Saturday.
 
MSUB (11-16, 6-5 GNAC) opened the season with 28-straight games on the road and will play its next 17 at home. The action begins on Friday with a 1 p.m. first pitch in a doubleheader against the Saints, and the teams will play another doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live video and statistics will be available for all games in the series via www.msubsports.com.
 
The Yellowjackets are coming off one of the best pitching performances in a series in recent memory, as MSUB hurlers allowed just six runs and struck out 40 against eight walks in 32 innings against Northwest Nazarene. The four wins moved MSUB into second place in the GNAC standings, and the 'Jackets currently hold a half-game lead over Saint Martin's (12-14, 6-6 GNAC).
 
Cody Cooper was selected as the GNAC Pitcher of the Week, after sealing the series sweep with a 10-strikeout complete game shutout of NNU in which he walked just one and allowed four hits on Saturday. Tanner Johnson and Jake Mills also turned in quality starts for MSUB, each striking out eight and throwing six innings in their starts.
 
Out of the bullpen, Lucas Blehm, Adam Cox and Lee Busto were nearly untouchable, combining for 10 strikeouts, one walk, no runs and only four hits in 7 2/3 innings. Cox earned a pair of saves and Blehm added his first of the year.
 
All told MSUB's staff had an ERA of 1.69 and allowed 34 baserunners in 32 innings for a WHIP of 1.06.
 
Offensively, Kyle Durbin was picked as the GNAC Player of the Week after back-to-back game-winning doubles on Day 1 that came in the final inning of each game for the 'Jackets.
 
REINSCHMIDT REMINDS OF LAST YEAR'S CYCLE: In the series finale, junior center fielder Luke Reinschmidt came up a double short of hitting for the cycle. Almost exactly one year earlier, he became just the third player in GNAC history to hit for the cycle, achieving the feat at NNU's Vail Baseball Field on March 28, 2014. On Saturday, Reinschmidt homered, tripled, and singled, before his sinking line drive into center field was tracked down and caught preventing a likely cycle-completing double.
 
Overall on the weekend Reinschmidt hit .600 (9-for-15) with three runs scored and three RBIs. He is now second on the team and eighth in the GNAC in hitting at .358 on the season, and his seven home runs rank second in the conference to SMU's Chandler Tracy (9). Reinschmidt is tied for first in hits (39), runs scored (26), and is leading the league in RBIs with 28 on the season.
 
Reinschmidt also became MSUB's all-time leader in triples, as the three-base hit in the series finale was the ninth of his career.
 
MILLER MAKING MARK: Senior second baseman Brody Miller had a hit in every game last weekend, keeping pace as the GNAC co-leader in hits along with Reinschmidt at 39 on the season. The reigning GNAC Player of the Year moved into fifth place all-time in the conference record books for career hits (223), and is batting .348 with 24 RBIs and five home runs this season.
 
He is also now tied for third in GNAC history in career walks (94), and eighth in games started (167), moving up one spot in each of those categories with his performance over the weekend.
 
GNAC 200 Hit Club
  
BERKRAM BREAKING OUT: Sophomore outfielder Myles Berkram made the most of his opportunity to start three games last week, batting .545 (6-for-11) with three runs scored and a stolen base. Berkram is now batting .294 on the season and has swiped three bases for the 'Jackets.
 
PACKING POP BEHIND THE PLATE: MSUB's senior catchers Conner Holbrook and Trevor Nix have provided the 'Jackets with consistency at the plate in addition to their defensive work, each batting north of .300. Holbrook holds a .333 batting average and has driven in seven runs in a dozen games. Nix is batting .307 with three doubles and nine runs scored in 20 games wearing the gear.
 

BISHOP REACHES 500 WINS: MSUB head coach Rob Bishop reached a landmark with his 500th career victory over the weekend, achieving the feat in the Yellowjackets' second win of the series. In his fifth season with MSUB, Bishop has accumulated 88 wins with the Yellowjackets. He brought 414 victories with him in 2011 from his decade at Miles Community College and single year prior to that at Huron University. His overall career record sits at 502-295-1.
 
OTHER MENTIONABLES: Jake Campeau, who has been teaming up with catcher Conner Holbrook for more than a decade, got the nod in Game 1 last week, tossing at least five innings for the fourth straight start…the senior right-hander has allowed just five walks in his last four outings, while striking out 17…four 'Jackets have recorded double-digit multi-hit games, with Miller's 13 leading the group…Reinschmidt has a team-best five three-hit games…MSUB was without senior left-hander Brady Muller in last week's series, who was temporarily sidelined with an injury.
 
As a team the Yellowjackets lead the GNAC in runs with 6.48 per game and in hits with 285 in 27 games. The 'Jackets are batting a conference-best .294, are reaching base at .378 and slugging .409. MSUB also leads the conference in RBIs with 156, in sacrifice bunts (23) and sacrifice flies (14), and its stolen base percentage of 82.6 (19-for-23) is also a GNAC-high.
 
On the mound MSUB holds a 6.44 team ERA and its 195 strikeouts are second-most in the league.
 
Friday, March 27 – 1 p.m. – Dehler Park – Doubleheader
Saturday, March 28 – 1 p.m. – Dehler Park – Doubleheader
Saint Martin's University Saints
2015 Record: 12-14, 6-6 GNAC
Head Coach: Ken Garland, 7th season
2014 GNAC Finish: 3rd (18-30, 14-17 GNAC)
 
Matching the Yellowjackets' accomplishment last week, the Saints took all four games from GNAC foe Central Washington on the road to pull their conference record even at 6-6. Carl Svanevik, who shared GNAC Player of the Week honors with MSUB's Durbin, led the Saints by going 8-for-16 with nine RBIs on three home runs and four runs scored.
 
Svanevik is the Saints' leader with a .349 batting average, and he has totaled 13 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs this season while reaching base at a clip of .436.
 
Chandler Tracy, the GNAC's career leader in home runs, leads the league with nine this season and is tied with Svanevik for the team high in RBIs with 23. Adam Eskil is batting .308 with three doubles, and he and Travis Shaw are the other Saints to have driven in double-digit runs with 12 and 10 on the season, respectively.
 
On the mound, SMU has relied on Nick Mailhot, Zach Carter and Josh Moss for the majority of its starts. Carter tossed a complete game in last week's series at Central Washington, and holds an ERA of 4.53 with 25 strikeouts and 11 walks in a team-high 43 2/3 innings pitched this season.
 
Out of the bullpen, Torin Dooley has been outstanding for the Saints, holding an ERA of 1.96 with 11 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings over eight appearances. Ryan Dorney has also been a reliable reliever, holding a 3.60 ERA over nine appearances and allowing just one extra-base hit – a double – in 10 innings.
 
As a team SMU averages 4.73 runs and is batting .254. The Saints reach base at .331, and have a GNAC-high 21 home runs so far this season. SMU has the second-best ERA in the conference at 4.38, while giving up a conference-low nine home runs in 211 2/3 innings pitched.
 
The Series: MSUB is 15-39 all-time against Saint Martin's, and the 'Jackets hold a mark of 6-20 at home against the Saints. The series dates back to the 2008 season.
 
Last Time Out: After splitting the first four-game series in Lacey, Wash., last season, MSUB lost three of the four games played at Dehler Park in April, 2014. In the crucial series towards the end of the season, SMU edged MSUB for positioning and eventually the final spot in the GNAC Championships with a 21-7, 8-6 doubleheader sweep.