BILLINGS, Mont. – For the second straight year and the fourth time in the past five seasons, the Montana State University Billings baseball team won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title with a doubleheader sweep of Concordia University on Friday afternoon at Dehler Park.
 
MSUB held on through an ugly finish in Game 1 to win 12-9 and clinch the title, and came out on top in a back-and-forth series finale with a 7-5 win to extend its winning streak to eight games.
 
The Yellowjackets are the first team in GNAC history to win 30 conference games in a season, as they went 30-10 through their 40-game league schedule to defend last year's title. MSUB is now 30-18 overall on the season, and enters next week's GNAC Championships tournament as the No. 1 seed. "There were a lot of emotions today, and there is nothing better than the way these guys competed," said MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton. "To finish off the series sweep and have some seniors have a big impact today was truly special to watch."
 
After MSUB's 10 graduating players were honored in a pregame ceremony, it was the seniors who stood out most on another record-breaking day at the ballpark. Billings natives Jalen Garcia and Matt Dillon combined for three home runs in their final career games in a ballpark they have called home since their days with the Billings Scarlets and Royals, respectively.
 
Daniel Cipriano tied the MSUB single-season home runs record with his 17th of the year, matching the total established by Kaleo Johnson in 2018. Tyler Detloff hit his fifth home run of the year, and Wyatt Setian clubbed a pair of homers in Game 2. Setian's second shot was MSUB's seventh of the day, and it broke the GNAC record for home runs by a team in a season as it was MSUB's 79th. The 'Jackets established that record with 78 in their 51 games in 2018, and have already topped the figure in 48 games. At the end of the day on Friday, MSUB was No. 1 in NCAA Division II baseball in total home runs hit this season.
 
On the mound Friday, seniors Steen Fredrickson, Brandon Maassen, and Jared Winslow highlighted a championship-winning day. Fredrickson picked up his 18th career win in Game 1, handing the ball off to Maassen before Winslow saved it late to clinch the regular-season title. "It was emotional," Fredrickson said after the doubleheader. "It's the last time out here on Dehler, and it has been home the last four years. Everything before the game was very special, and having all of our families here was important to every one of us."
 
Head coach Aaron Sutton piloted the 'Jackets to their third 30-win season in program history, and the team is now three wins away from last year's single-season record 33 victories.
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 12, Concordia 9
 
With its season on the line, Concordia put together a furious rally with a seven-run top of the ninth inning. The 'Jackets were able to finish off a game that they led 12-1 after seven innings, as Winslow threw just four pitches to notch his third save of the year.
 
Fredrickson was magnificent in his final turn on the mound at Dehler Park, logging 6 2/3 innings and giving up just one run on three hits. The right-hander struck out eight batters and issued one walk, while throwing 91 pitches on the afternoon. "It was awesome to get the ball on senior day, and it was awesome to get us that win that we needed," said Fredrickson, who moved up to No. 7 in GNAC history with 196 career strikeouts. "I couldn't be going out with a better group. We have gotten close, and today we played for each other. That was a great feeling."
 
Concordia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, when Liam Knowles doubled to right and Eddie Vasquez delivered a two-out RBI-single.
 
The first five Yellowjackets who came up in the bottom of the first all had hits however, and after a solo home run by Garcia and a double by Dillon MSUB took the lead for good in the game.
 
Cipriano punched a two-run single into left field in the second to make it a 4-1 score, and the flood gates opened in the bottom of the fourth when the 'Jackets scored seven times. Cipriano's record-tying home run was sandwiched by a two-run double by Garcia and the 15th home run of the year by Dillon. An RBI-double by Andrew Schleusner wrapped up the game-defining rally, and Landon Peterson made it 12-1 with an RBI-single in the sixth.
 
Fredrickson meanwhile was nearly untouchable after shaking off the first-inning run. He retired 13 of 14 batters in the second-through fifth innings, emphatically mowing through the Cavaliers and striking out the side in a clean fifth frame. Fredrickson took the hill to start the seventh, and struck out Kyler Kedroske on a 1-2 pitch for the second out of the inning. That prompted Coach Sutton to emerge from the dugout, and Fredrickson handed the ball off to Maassen on the mound before exiting to a roaring ovation from the crowd. "Anytime a guy gives four years of his life to a place like this, he deserves to go out the way he did," Sutton commented on lifting Fredrickson after a strikeout. "It was a special moment for Steen and his family."
 
Maassen put together a solid performance through 1 1/3 innings of work, giving up one run on one hit and striking out a pair of hitters in his final outing at Dehler Park. "I've been here for five years now with some of the other guys, and it was a pretty surreal moment getting on the mound here at Dehler Park for the last time," Maassen said. "It was a great day, coming away with the sweep, and we are ready to roll into the conference tournament and win some games."
 
Six walks and two hit batters made for a dragging finish in the top of the ninth, but a combination of four 'Jacket pitchers finally got the job done and ended the game with the go-ahead run at the plate and the bases loaded.
 
Isaac Mitchum contributed an outstanding performance out of the bullpen for CU, giving up just one run on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks in 4 2/3 innings.
 
Game 2 – MSU Billings 7, Concordia 5 (7 Innings)
 
Setian hit the first pitch he saw from CU starter Trevor Huddleston over the right-field fence, kicking off a game in which each team homered four times and the lead changed hands five different times.
 
Justin Taylor hit a solo homer in the top of the second, before Jake Wikel added a 2-run shot to give CU an early 3-1 lead. Detloff drilled the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the second over the fence in right, and PJ Ausmus followed with a perfectly-executed safety squeeze bunt to score Ryan Roche and tie the score 3-3.
 
Garcia's second home run of the day and the 22nd of his career clashed off the hitter's eye in straightaway center field to make it a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third. It was short-lived however, as Vasquez hit a soaring, deep home run down the right-field line to bring it even once again at 4-4 in the fourth.
 
Damon Peters followed with his team-leading seventh home run of the year in the fifth, a no-doubt blast to left field that wound up being CU's final run of the day. Setian yanked the GNAC-season record-breaking home run out to left in the bottom of the fifth, a two-run shot that ultimately proved to be the game-winning swing of the bat.


 
Sterling Lay earned his first-ever win as a Yellowjacket in his first-ever start, as he struck out seven and walked none while giving up five runs on six hits in six strong innings of work. Winslow was summoned in the top of the seventh, and fittingly ended the series with a strikeout on a 3-2 pitch to Peters. It was MSUB's 18th save of the season, breaking the GNAC single-season record of 17 held by the 2013 Western Oregon team.
 
"I have never thrown twice on one day before, so that was something new," Winslow said on earning his third and fourth saves of the season. "On senior day it is emotional, and you just want to go out there and win. It has been a great ride, and it is something I will cherish forever."
 
"He is just a gritty guy, and I can't speak highly enough about Jared and what he means to this team," said Sutton. "The way he has been throwing the ball down the stretch has been really impressive, and I know that any time he gets the ball everybody feels very confident."
 
MSUB completed a 7-1 season victory over Concordia, and the Cavaliers were eliminated from postseason contention after the loss in Game 1.
 
THE BUZZ: Garcia was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…MSUB is now 27-9 all-time against Concordia and has a record of 13-3 in home games against the Cavaliers…Cipriano had his school record streak of consecutive games reaching base snapped at 42, after going 0-for-3 in the finale…Cipriano was hit by a pitch in Game 1, breaking the MSUB single-season record with his 24th HBP of the season…Cipriano is one time hit by a pitch away from matching Jamie Nilsen's GNAC single-season record of 25, set during the 2008 season at Central Washington…Cipriano is also one home run away from matching Kyle Sani's GNAC single-season record of 18, which he achieved in 2013 playing for CWU…Cipriano became the sixth player in MSUB history to reach 50 RBIs in a single season, and is nine RBIs away from Brody Miller's single-season record of 59 (2015)…Setian had two doubles Friday, and is one double away from the MSUB single-season record of 20 held by Garcia (2018) and Miller (2015)...Peterson had 12 putouts in Game 1, breaking the MSUB career record with 757 and surpassing Blake Loran's mark of 756 (2011-15).
 
NEXT UP: The 2019 GNAC Championships begin on Wednesday at Porter Park on the campus of Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. The Yellowjackets are the No. 1 seed, and will play No. 4 seed Saint Martin's University in the second game of the tournament, scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Mountain time on May 8. Live video with play-by-play commentary and live statistics for all games of the GNAC Championships will be available online through GNAC.tv.