BILLINGS, Mont. – Beginning an eight-game home stand to close the 2021 regular season, the Montana State University Billings baseball team hosts Western Oregon University this week in a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Dehler Park.
 
Doubleheaders are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Friday against the Wolves, with live video available online here and live statistics available online here. Per GNAC mandate, no fans are allowed at GNAC baseball games during the 2021 spring season.
 
The Yellowjackets (8-24, 8-16 GNAC) continue to hold hope for a GNAC Championships berth, as they enter the week in fourth place in the conference standings behind Central Washington University. The Wildcats (11-9, 9-7) will be in Billings on May 7-8 to end the regular season in what could be the decisive matchup in claiming the final playoff spot. The top-three teams at the end of the regular season earn a spot in the conference tournament, which is scheduled for May 20-21 in Nampa, Idaho.
 
MSUB is coming off a 3-1 series victory at Saint Martin's University last week, as the team won the crucial road set to keep its playoff hopes alive.
 
OUTING OF THE SEASON BY TRITCH: Senior Blake Tritch turned in both the best pitching performance of his collegiate career and the best one of the season for the MSUB staff, and was rewarded with GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors. Tritch authored an eight-inning complete game in the series finale against the Saints, as he guided MSUB to a 4-1 extra-inning triumph that clinched the 3-1 series victory. Tritch struck out three and threw 93 pitches, while allowing just three hits in his eight innings of work. The right-hander lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.33 on the season, and earned his first victory in a Yellowjacket uniform.
 
LUTZ EARNS POTW AT THE PLATE: Offensively, junior catcher Justin Lutz made a profound impact on the series as he went 4-for-7 with three RBIs and four runs scored while playing two games. Lutz got on base in 7 of 10 plate appearances, and hit his fifth home run of the season in Game 3 of the series. He was also stellar defensively in the set against the Saints, making 17 putouts and a season-high four assists in Game 1 while committing no errors in his 21 total chances.
 
CIPRIANO KEEPS CLIMBING CHARTS: Senior slugger Daniel Cipriano had four hits and four RBIs in the series against the Saints, as he continues to lead the team in slugging at .768 and the GNAC in RBIs with 43. Cipriano also has 119 RBIs in his career, which ranks him fourth in school history. He needs three more to tie No. 3 Jalen Garcia at 122 and eight more to tie No. 2 Luke Reinschmidt at 127. The all-time school RBI record is 158, set by Brody Miller in 2012-15. Cipriano also enters the week with 37 career home runs, ranking him second in GNAC history behind Chandler Tracy of Saint Martin's who hit 43 from 2012-15.
 
CANTWELL HOMERS TWICE IN LACEY: Senior Tanner Cantwell hit a pair of home runs against the Saints, giving him eight on the season to go along with 24 RBIs. Cantwell is slugging .648, while reaching base at a clip of .471 and hitting .324 while starting all 32 games. Cantwell also made his first appearance of the season on the mound last week, striking out three hitters in a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
 
PARKER EXTENDS HITTING STREAK TO 6 GAMES: Senior shortstop Tanner Parker had hits in all four games against the Saints, extending his recent hitting streak to six games over the last two weeks. Parker scored three runs in the series against SMU, and lifted his season batting average to .281 with his recent hot stretch at the plate.
 
Western Oregon University Wolves
2021 record: 12-6, 11-5 GNAC
All-Time Series: WOU 80, MSUB 30
Series at Billings, MT: WOU 34, MSUB 13
Last Meeting: WOU 3, MSUB 1 (March 26-27 at Monmouth, OR)
 
The Wolves have played just 18 games this spring, and were last in action on April 10 with their recent four-game series against Central Washington University canceled. WOU took 3 of 4 games from the Yellowjackets when the teams met in Monmouth, Oregon on March 26-27, and The Wolves enter the week in second place in the GNAC standings with a league record of 11-5.
 
Connor McCord leads the GNAC with an .809 slugging percentage, as his five home runs and 17 RBIs are most on the Wolves' team. Derek Maiben is the team's top hitter at .379, while his brother Jacob Maiben is close behind at .333 on the season.
 
Boasting one of the league's elite pitching staffs, WOU holds a 3.95 team ERA and an opponents' batting average of .214. Mike Peterson has been one of the top starters in the GNAC all season, with a 1.86 ERA including 25 strikeouts against just seven walks in 29 innings pitched.