PORTLAND, Ore. – The Montana State University Billings baseball team was hardly satisfied with wrapping up its fourth Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title in the last five years on Friday at Dehler Park.
 
The Yellowjackets claimed the conference title and enter this week's GNAC Championships hungry to extend their season further. For the first time ever, the winner of this week's tournament, which begins Wednesday at Porter Park on the campus of Concordia University, will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Region Championships running May 16-19.
 
The 'Jackets (30-18, 30-10 GNAC) will open the tournament on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Mountain, against No. 4 seed Saint Martin's University (19-30, 15-25). The winner will play at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, and the loser will play at noon Thursday, against either No. 2 seed Western Oregon University (29-11, 26-11) or No. 3 seed Northwest Nazarene University (24-22, 20-17). All games at the 2019 GNAC Baseball Championships will feature live video with play-by-play commentary, and live statistics, available online through GNAC.tv.
 
2019 GNAC Baseball Championships Schedule
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Game 1: 2:30 PM – No. 3 seed Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 2 seed Western Oregon
Game 2: 6 PM – No. 4 seed Saint Martin's vs. No. 1 seed MSU Billings
 
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Game 3: 12 PM – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (elimination game)
Game 4: 3:30 PM – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 5: 7 PM – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (elimination game)
 
Friday, May 10, 2019
Game 6: 12 PM – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7: 3:30 PM – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)
 *All times local (Pacific Standard)
 
"Playoff baseball is upon us, and the success of the ball club is going to be determined by the things that got us here," MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton said. "Like we have said all year, we are 0-0, and truly each team gets to start over now. If we can be consistent in our play, pound the zone, play catch, and create offense, we will have as good a chance as anyone to walk away with a championship. Our guys are just sticking to the process, and what is important is having a clean practice today once we get over to the ballpark."
 
MSUB enters the tournament on a roll, as it closed the regular season with eight straight victories over the last two weeks to successfully defend the 2018 title. The 'Jackets swept Concordia University last week in a four-game series at Dehler Park, and are now two wins shy of their season- and program-best winning streak of 10 straight which they enjoyed from March 16-30.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: MSUB came close to an unprecedented tournament title a season ago, falling to Western Oregon University 8-4 in the championship game last May in Ellensburg, Washington. It was the Yellowjackets' most successful venture at the conference tournament, as MSUB had won just one game in four appearances prior to 2018. This will be MSUB's sixth GNAC tournament appearance and fifth straight, and the team has been every year since its inception in 2013 with the exception of the 2014 campaign.
 

Season	Seed	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Overall
2013	#3	L, 7-0	L, 6-5	X	X	X	0-2
2015	#1	L, 8-6	L, 4-3	X	X	X	0-2
2016	#2	W, 10-2	L, 4-3		X	X	1-2
2017	#4	L, 4-2	L, 4-3	X	X	X	0-2
2018	#1	W, 21-11	L, 14-8	W, 10-6	W, 6-4	L, 8-4	3-2
2019	#1	Wednesday	Thursday	TBA	TBA	TBA	0-0

REGIONAL RANKINGS: MSUB rose another spot in the unofficial National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association west region rankings, moving up to No. 5 in the latest publication released on Monday. The Yellowjackets will await the release of the penultimate NCAA D2 West Region rankings, which are scheduled to be out on Wednesday before first pitch of their ballgame. Last week, MSUB checked in at No. 7 in the official regional rankings, which will eventually determine the field of six teams to compete at the 2019 NCAA West Region Championships next week.
 

Week	Poll	MSUB Ranking	Movement	Full Rankings
Preseason	NCBWA	7	0	Preseason Rankings
Week 1 - Feb. 18	NCBWA	T10	-3	Week 1 Rankings
Week 2 - Feb. 25	NCBWA	--	DROP	Week 2 Rankings
Week 3 - March 4	NCBWA	--	--	Week 3 Rankings
Week 4 - March 11	NCBWA	--	--	Week 4 Rankings
Week 5 - March 18	NCBWA	RV	--	Week 5 Rankings
Week 6 - March 25	NCBWA	10	IN	Week 6 Rankings
Week 7 - April 1	NCBWA	8	+2	Week 7 Rankings
Week 8 - April 8	NCBWA	7	+1	Week 8 Rankings
Week 9 - April 15	NCBWA	7	0	Week 9 Rankings
Week 10 - April 22	NCBWA	7	0	Week 10 Rankings
Week 1 - April 23	NCAA - West Region	8	0	West Region Rakings (1)
Week 11 - April 29	NCBWA	T6	+1	Week 11 Rankings
Week 2 - May 1	NCAA - West Region	7	+1	West Region Rakings (2)
Week 12 - May 6	NCBWA	5	+1	Week 12 Rankings
Week 3 - May 7	NCAA - West Region	6	+1	West Region Rankings (3)

 
MOST POWERFUL TEAM IN THE NCAA: Entering the GNAC Championships, MSUB leads NCAA D2 baseball with 79 home runs, a mark that broke its own school and GNAC record of 78 set during the 2018 season. MSUB is also No. 6 in the NCAA with 116 doubles this year, and its slugging percentage of .546 is No. 5 in the country.
 

Rank	Team	Home Runs
1	MSU Billings	79
2	Colorado Mines	78
	Hillsdale	78
4	Oklahoma Baptist	76
5	Azusa Pacific	75
6	Metro State Denver	74
	Shepherd	74
8	North Greenville	73
9	Bellarmine	69
10	Colorado Mesa	65

 
FREDRICKSON FINISHES WITH A K, GNAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK AWARD: The final pitch senior Steen Fredrickson threw at Dehler Park was strike three on his eighth strikeout of the game last Friday against Concordia. It was the 196th of Fredrickson's career, which is the seventh-highest total in GNAC history. He was rewarded with his fourth career GNAC Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday, and his first of the 2019 season. Entering the tournament, Fredrickson leads the GNAC with 74 1/3 innings pitched, while ranking second in ERA at 3.87 and strikeouts with 79, and third in opposing batting average at .239.
   

Rank	Name	Strikeouts	School	Seasons
1	Nick Waechter	269	WOU	2004-06
2	Roger Evenson	246	NNU	2003-05
3	Cody Cooper	237	MSUB	2014-17
4	Brady Muller	232	MSUB	2012-15
5	Steven Schutte	231	NNU	2002-04
6	Mike Ward	223	WOU	2007-08, 2010-11
7	Steen Fredrickson	196	MSUB	2016-19
8	Mickey Walker	192	SMU	2016-19
9	Brady Miller	187	WOU	2015-17
10	Mike Eisenhauer	185	WOU	2007-09

 
CIPRIANO AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: Junior Daniel Cipriano tied the MSUB single-season record with his 17th home run of the year last week, and remains among national leaders in several power categories entering the GNAC tournament. He is tied for 10th in the country in home runs, is fourth in on-base percentage at .534, and is fifth in slugging at .846. Cipriano's on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.380 is No. 2 in the nation, as only Josh Elvir of Angelo State (1.623 OPS) holds a higher mark.
 
The favorite for GNAC Player and Newcomer of the Year, Cipriano leads the GNAC in batting (.409), slugging, on-base percentage, runs (53), RBIs (50), home runs (17), and times hit by a pitch (24). He needs one more home run to break the GNAC single-season record of 18, held by Kyle Sani of Central Washington University (2013). He would also tie Jamie Nilsen's single-season record for times hit by a pitch with one more, and he is on pace to become the second player in GNAC history to win the triple crown after MSUB's Kaleo Johnson achieved the feat last year.
 

Rank	Player	Games	Season(s)
1	Daniel Cipriano	42	2019
2	Kevin Toon	31	2015-16
3	Kade Hall	30	2018
4	Ryan Myers	27	2018
	Austin Rue	27	2013
6	Chris Round	24	2010
	Stefan Malkuch	24	2009
8	Jordan Schlender	23	2008
	Luke Sansaver	23	2006
10	Luke Reinschmidt	21	2016
	Kyle Durbin	21	2015

 
SETIAN A SLUGGER IN LEADOFF SPOT: Sophomore Wyatt Setian has had a breakout season hitting out of the leadoff spot, with a slash line of .351/.403/.655. He leads the GNAC with 68 hits, and is just seven away from matching Kade Hall's MSUB single-season record of 75 hits achieved last year. Setian ranks third in the GNAC with a dozen home runs, while leading the conference with 19 doubles. He is one double shy of the MSUB record of 20, jointly held by Brody Miller (2013), and Jalen Garcia (2018).
 
DILLON, GARCIA CLIMB HR CHART: Seniors Matt Dillon and Jalen Garcia each had big weeks at the plate, and ascended the Yellowjackets' all-time home runs chart. Garcia hit three long balls in his final weekend at Dehler Park, passing Luke Reinschmidt for No. 3 on the all-time list with 23 in his career. Dillon meanwhile hit his 15th of the season and the 19th of his career, and he needs one more to become the fifth player in school history to reach 20 long balls.
 

Rank	Name	HR	Seasons
1	Ryan Myers	27	2017-18
2	Brody Miller	25	2012-15
3	Jalen Garcia	23	2017-19
4	Luke Reinschmidt	22	2014-16
5	Matt Dillon	19	2016-19
6	Kaleo Johnson	17	2018
	Daniel Cipriano	17	2019
8	Wyatt Setian	16	2018-19
9	Colby Robison	13	2011-13
	Kade Hall	13	2017-18

 
ROCHE STAYS RED HOT: Redshirt freshman Ryan Roche has caught fire down the back stretch of his debut collegiate season, carrying a .379 batting average into this week's tournament. Roche started his career just 2-for-19 (.105), but over his last four series since then he is batting .489 (23-for-47) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run. Roche has drawn seven walks and been hit by a pair of pitches, while striking out just six times during that span. Overall he is reaching base at a clip of .571 and slugging .681 over the last four weekends since emerging into an everyday starter.
 
PETERSON BREAKS CAREER RECORD: Landon Peterson broke the MSUB career record for putouts last week, recording a dozen in Game 3 against CU and upping his five-year total to 757. That topped Blake Loran's mark of 756, which he achieved from 2011-15. It is the second all-time record Peterson holds, after breaking the mark of runners caught stealing earlier this year and carrying a total of 35 in that category into this weekend.
 

Rank	Name	PO	Seasons
1	Landon Peterson	757	2015-19
2	Blake Loran	756	2011-15
3	Kevin Toon	680	2013-16
4	Ryan Myers	606	2017-18
5	Andrew Schleusner	564	2017-19
6	Matt Kakalecik	532	2006, 08
7	Seth Moir	397	2007-08
8	Blake Nelson	375	2008, 10-12
9	Conner Holbrook	336	2013-15
10	Jake Samuelson	335	2006-07