BILLINGS, Mont. – Pushing up its Great Northwest Athletic Conference series this weekend to avoid inclement weather, Montana State University Billings and Saint Martin's University announced a schedule change on Wednesday.
 
The four-game series will begin on Thursday afternoon in Lacey, Washington, with a 3:30 p.m. first pitch, and will conclude on Friday morning with a 10 a.m. start time. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here. Per GNAC mandate, fans are not allowed at GNAC baseball games during the 2021 spring season.
 
The series was originally scheduled to be played on Friday and Saturday, before being adjusted to avoid Saturday's poor weather forecast.
 
The Yellowjackets enter their final road trip of the 2021 season with a record of 5-23 overall and a mark of 5-15 in conference play. MSUB is four games behind third-place Central Washington University (9-7 GNAC) in the win column, and still has a chance to claim a spot in the 2021 GNAC Championships if it can catch the Wildcats over the final three weeks of the season.
 
Saint Martin's meanwhile is 6-18 overall and 2-14 in league play, as the Saints enter the weekend trailing the 'Jackets by three games in the win column.
 
MSUB is coming off a four-game series defeat against No. 10 Northwest Nazarene University last weekend, as the Nighthawks swept the Yellowjackets in Billings. MSUB closes the regular season with eight straight home games after this weekend, hosting Western Oregon University on April 29-30 and Central Washington University on May 7-8 at Dehler Park.
 
RILEY STAYS HOT: Leadoff hitter Will Riley kept his batting average north of .400, as he enters this week ranked third in the conference at .405. Riley hit his sixth home run of the year last week to help maintain his .694 slugging percentage, and the junior leads the conference with 45 hits this season. Riley also leads the league with 12 doubles, while ranking second in total bases with 77.
 
CIPRIANO HITS NO. 37: Senior Daniel Cipriano hit the 37th home run of his career last week, as he continued to build upon his MSUB all-time record. He enters this week leading the GNAC in slugging percentage at .835, runs batted in with 39, home runs with 12, and total bases with 81.
 
GREEN SNAPS STREAK AT 13: Carson Green extended his hitting streak to 13 games after the opener against the Nighthawks, before taking an 0-for-3 to bring it to an end. Green's streak tied for the ninth-longest in MSUB history, and it was the longest hitting streak by an MSUB player since Jalen Garcia had the second-longest stretch at 23 games from April 7-May 17, 2019.
 
SCHLEUSNER HITS 10TH HR: Senior Andrew Schleusner hit the 10th home run of his career in last week's series against the Nighthawks. He also moved into a tie for sixth place in MSUB history with 96 career RBIs, as he is just four away from becoming the sixth player in the history of the program to reach the century mark. Schleusner is a .295 career hitter including a career-best mark of .333 this spring.
 
CASTELLI GOES YARD TWICE: The first two hits of Joey Castelli's MSUB career cleared the fence, as he homered in each of his starts against the Nighthawks last week. Castelli joined the program last spring but did not see the field, and provided the Yellowjackets with a power boost to jump start his career at the plate last week. His second homer of the weekend was a three-run shot, giving him four total RBIs in the three games he has played.
 
ROCHE DELIVERS CLEAN OUTING: Junior Ryan Roche turned in 2 1/3 solid innings on the mound against the Nighthawks, allowing no hits and striking out one in his third relief appearance of the season. Roche enters this week leading the Yellowjacket pitching staff with a 2.08 ERA in his 4 1/3 innings of work.
 
TRITCH SUPPLIES PROMISING START: Being relied on in a starting role for the first time this spring, senior Blake Tritch turned in a solid performance against NNU. The right-hander gave up three runs, but only one was earned while he struck out three hitters in his 3 2/3 innings of work. Tritch ranks second on the team with a 3.18 ERA this spring.
 
HOULIHAN LIGHTS OUT IN RELIEF: Redshirt freshman Matthew Houlihan had a strong showing in his first outing in nearly a month, coming on in relief and striking out four hitters in three innings. The only run Houlihan allowed was unearned as well.
 
Saint Martin's University Saints
2021 Record: 6-18, 2-14 GNAC
All-Time Series: 53-48-1
Series at Lacey, WA: MSUB 24, SMU 23 – 1 tie
Last Meeting: MSUB 3, SMU 1 at Billings, MT (March 19 & 21)
 
The Saints are coming off a non-conference split against Lewis-Clark State on April 16, with their last GNAC action being a 3-1 series loss at the hands of Central Washington on April 10-11 at home. SMU plays at Northwest Nazarene on April 30-May 1 and hosts Western Oregon on May 6-7 to close the regular season after playing the Yellowjackets this weekend.
 
Aaron Renaud is the team's top hitter at .325, and he paces the squad with five home runs while driving in 10. Reid Little has homered twice and leads the team with 14 RBIs. The Saints have a GNAC-low team batting average of .210.
 
Tanner Inouye is the team's top pitcher, holding a 3.99 ERA while striking out 39 hitters in 29 1/3 innings over his six starts this spring. Cole Hatton has been the other regular starter for SMU, with a 7.18 ERA in his 26 1/3 innings of work. The Saints hold an 8.22 team ERA and a .341 opponents' batting average.