BILLINGS, Mont. – The latest home debut in Montana State University Billings baseball history has finally arrived, as the Yellowjackets will open the doors at Dehler Park this weekend for a four-game series against Concordia University.
 
Great Northwest Athletic Conference play continues on Friday and Saturday, with 1 p.m. doubleheaders scheduled for each day. It is also Little League Weekend at Dehler Park, with children ages 5-14 who wear their team jersey to the games on Saturday receiving free admission including one adult. On Sunday, Little Leaguers are welcomed back to Dehler Park to participate in a youth camp under the instruction of MSUB coaches and players. Register for the youth camp online here.
 
This weekend will mark the fourth time since baseball was added at MSUB in 2006 that the team has opened its home schedule in April. The date of April 20 surpasses the 2007 home opener on April 13, as the latest ever for the program. The Yellowjackets are home the next three weekends, hosting Saint Martin's University next weekend and Central Washington University on Senior Weekend after that.
 
MSUB Baseball Home Debut by Season

2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
3-17	4-13	3-25	3-20	3-26	4-6	3-24	3-15	4-8	3-27	3-19	3-18	4-20

 
Despite playing all 34 of their games this year on the road, the 'Jackets are at the top of the GNAC standings with a 5.5-game cushion in first place. MSUB is 22-12 overall, and holds a 21-7 record in league play with a dozen games left on the regular-season schedule. MSUB has its sights on its third GNAC regular-season title in the last four seasons, after it won that title in back-to-back years in 2015-16. The 'Jackets are also close to wrapping up a berth in their fourth straight GNAC Championships tournament, which is reserved for the top-four teams in the regular-season standings and will run May 9-11 at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. 
 
MSUB is coming off its fourth straight GNAC series win, defeating Northwest Nazarene University in 3 of 4 games in Nampa, Idaho last weekend. After splitting their first conference series of the year at Western Oregon on March 9-10, MSUB has won every series to ascend to the top of the conference.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS: The Yellowjackets are seventh in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association west region rankings, released on Monday. The first NCAA Division II west region rankings will be released next week, and will eventually determine the six-team field to advance to the 2018 west region playoffs at the site of the No. 1 seed. The Yellowjackets are in search of the program's first-ever bid to the national tournament, and are eight wins away from tying the school record for wins in a year after the 2016 team went 30-20.
 
BEST OFFENSE, EVER? The torrid offense MSUB has displayed is among the best not only in school history, but within the scope of the GNAC which dates back to the 2002 season. Last week, MSUB broke the school record for home runs and its total of 46 is already the sixth-highest mark in GNAC single-season history. MSUB is currently averaging 8.03 runs per game, with only the 2012 Western Oregon squad averaging more runs per game in a GNAC season (8.24). The Yellowjackets currently have the highest-ever GNAC single-season marks in home runs per game (1.35), and walks per game (4.85), and their 7.32 RBIs per game is the second-highest total.
 
Most Runs Per Game, Season, GNAC Baseball History

Rank	Team	Runs-Game	Season
1	Western Oregon	8.24	2012
2	MSU Billings	8.03	2018
3	Central Washington	7.96	2005
4	Western Oregon	7.93	2006
5	Western Oregon	7.77	2002
6	Western Oregon	7.26	2005
7	Central Washington	7.22	2002
8	Central Washington	7.18	2004
9	Central Washington	7.16	2008
	Northwest Nazarene	7.16	2010

TOP-TO-BOTTOM: Up and down MSUB's lineup are stellar hitters, as six of the top-11 batting averages in the GNAC wear the navy and gold uniform. The balanced production is perhaps what stands out most, as MSUB is bidding to become just the second team in GNAC history to feature six different players with 30 or more RBIs in a season. Entering this weekend, five Yellowjackets have already reached the 30-RBI mark, and Andrew Schleusner, who is coming off a four-RBI game last week at NNU, needs just five more to make it six players.
 
In 2005, Central Washington featured a lineup with seven players at 30 or more RBIs, the only other team in conference history with six or more in the same season. The 2005 Wildcats hold the GNAC records for RBIs in a season with 407 and RBIs per game with 7.40 as a team.
 
JOHNSON NABS MSUB'S FOURTH WEEKLY HONOR: Leading the pack of producers is junior Kaleo Johnson, who has the top batting average in the GNAC at .402 through his 24 games started. Johnson became the fourth Yellowjacket to be named GNAC Player of the Week this season, as MSUB has claimed nearly half of the 11 weekly honors distributed in 2018. Johnson won the honor by slugging 1.125 with three home runs and two doubles, which boosted his GNAC-leading slugging percentage to .747. Johnson is also reaching base at a clip of .495, while walking a dozen times and being hit by a pitch six and striking out just 11 times.

MYERS APPROACHES HR MARK: Senior Ryan Myers leads the GNAC with 10 home runs and an on-base percentage of .529, and is second to Johnson with a slugging percentage of .703. In his two seasons with the 'Jackets, Myers has already smacked 21 home runs and is four away from matching the all-time program mark of 25 held by Brody Miller ('15).
 
MSUB Baseball Career HR Leaders

Rank	Name	HR	Seasons
1	Brody Miller	25	2012-15
2	Luke Reinschmidt	22	2014-16
3	Ryan Myers	21	2017-18
4	Colby Robison	13	2011-13
5	Colter Sternhagen	12	2013-16
	Kade Hall	12	2017-18

 
Myers also needs 25 more at-bats to become a statistical qualifier for all-time GNAC marks (250 AB minimums), where he would currently rank No. 2 in conference history both in career slugging percentage at .662 and on-base percentage at .498.
 
HALL CONTINUES STEADY PRODUCTION: Senior Kade Hall hit his eighth home run of the year last week at NNU, and added a pair of doubles to bring his total to 12 which is second most in the conference. The leftfielder also ranks second in the league with 32 RBIs, and is third on the team and fifth in the GNAC with a batting average of .357.
 
LINEBARGER LOGS FIRST WALK-OFF OF 2018: Stepping to the plate with the score tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 12th inning in Game 1 at NNU, Conner Linebarger delivered an RBI-single for MSUB's first walk-off hit of the year. Linebarger had three hits in the opening game, and is now fifth on the team with a .339 batting average while matching Hall with 32 RBIs.
 
GARCIA BREAKS STEALS RECORD: Junior Jalen Garcia broke the MSUB single-season record for steals last week, and stole three bases total to push his mark to 20 swipes on the year. Garcia is No. 1 in the conference in steals, while ranking sixth with a batting average of .354 and fifth in RBIs with 30. The centerfielder also had a pair of clutch defensive plays, including a diving catch in right-center and an outfield assist to cut down the would-be go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the 10th inning in the win over NNU. Garcia has reached the career minimum of 250 at-bats, and is No. 3 in MSUB history with a batting average of .337. He also has 29 career steals, and is five away from matching the all-time MSUB record of 34 held by Colby Robison (2011-13).
 
WINSLOW POSTS STRONG START: Junior right-hander Jared Winslow is coming off a strong start last week, as he surrendered two runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts and no walks in five innings against NNU. Though he took the no-decision in the eventual MSUB victory, Winslow dropped his ERA to 5.57 on the year. Through 32 1/3 innings pitched, Winslow has 21 strikeouts and has appeared in nine total games on the mound.
 
SHOCKLEY KEEPS SCORELESS STREAK INTACT: Senior Tristan Shockley came out of the bullpen twice last week, and extended his streak of scoreless innings pitched to 10 1/3 innings. The string of shutout frames has covered his last five appearances, a stretch during which Shockley has struck out 11, walked three, and given up eight hits for a WHIP of 1.06.
 
FREDRICKSON HOLDS GNAC LEAD IN Ks: Despite missing a start with the cancelation of MSUB's series against Western Oregon, junior Steen Fredrickson maintained his lead in the GNAC with 54 strikeouts. He is the lone Yellowjacket to have made a start in all nine series this season, and he is fifth in the conference with 46 1/3 innings pitched. Fredrickson is 5-0 on the year with a 3.69 ERA, and his opponents' batting average of .229 is the second-lowest in the GNAC among qualifiers.

Concordia University Cavaliers
Friday, April 20 – 1 PM Doubleheader – Dehler Park
Saturday, April 21 – 1 PM Doubleheader – Dehler Park
2018 Record: 15-22, 14-13 GNAC
Head Coach: Rob Vance, 19th season
Last Series: MSUB 3-1, March 3-4 at Portland | MSUB 4, CU 2 | MSUB 8, CU 3 | MSUB 4, CU 0 | CU 2, MSUB 0
 
Concordia enters this week's series on a roll, with wins in its last three conference series. CU swept Saint Martin's in four games on March 30-31, before taking 3 of 4 from Central Washington the following week. Most recently, the Cavaliers took 2 of 3 from Western Oregon in a series that concluded on Monday in Portland.
 
While offense is not CU's strong suit, the 'Cavs have been solid on the mound as of late and rank second in the GNAC with a team ERA of 5.24. Trevor Huddleston has been one of the top throwers for CU, allowing three earned runs or fewer in each of his last six starts and logging three quality starts along the way. Huddleston has struck out 35 in 44 1/3 innings pitched to lead the team.
 
Jake Roes has been perhaps CU's most consistent starter, with a team-high 57 1/3 innings pitched while starting a game in all 10 series this season. Roes struggled against the Yellowjackets last time, giving up six hits with four walks and no strikeouts in three innings pitched on March 3.
 
Isaac Mitchum has emerged into a starter over the last four series, during which he has logged an ERA of 2.08 with 19 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched.
 
Offensively, Dominic Enbody has worked his way into the starting lineup and leads the team with a .375 batting average. Andrew Barrera is also a top hitter with a .341 average, and his 17 RBIs are second most on the team. Mitch Bevacqua is the team's leader with 21 RBIs and he has hit two of CU's three home runs this season.
 
As a team CU has a .261 batting average and averages 4.49 runs per game.
 
The Series: MSUB is 15-8 all-time against CU and has a record of 5-3 in home games. The Yellowjackets have won four series and split one among the five played since CU joined the GNAC at the start of the 2016 season.
 
Last Time Out: MSUB won the first three games in Portland to secure the series victory. Huddleston baffled the 'Jackets in the finale however, tossing a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts marking one of just two times this year MSUB went without a run in a game.