BILLINGS, Mont. – For only the second time in program history, the Montana State University Billings baseball team is heading to the NCAA Division II West Region Championships. Despite a narrow loss in the GNAC Championship Game, the Yellowjackets (32-20) secured the No. 5 seed based on their strong season résumé.
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The regional is split into two three-team pods. MSUB will compete in the pod hosted by top-seeded Northwest Nazarene, alongside No. 4 seed Point Loma Nazarene. The other pod includes No. 2 seed Westmont, No. 3 CSU Monterey Bay, and No. 6 San Francisco State. Winners of each pod will advance to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional, with a spot in the Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina on the line. Live coverage and tournament information for the West Region Championships can be found
here.
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MSUB enters the tournament coming off two victories and a GNAC Championship Game appearance. Their 32 wins mark the second-highest total in school history. Four players—
Brennen Chappell,
Jack Nehler,
Bodee Wright, and
Kaden Kirshenbaum—were named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team.
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The Yellowjackets also dominated GNAC postseason awards, with 11 players earning All-Conference recognition. Freshman pitcher
Sam Coxen was named GNAC Freshman of the Year, only the second in program history to receive the honor (Cooper Dulich, 2022). Head Coach
Derek Waddoups was recognized as GNAC Coach of the Year, becoming the fourth MSUB coach to earn the title and the first since 2019. Waddoups surpassed 100 career wins this season and now ranks second all-time at MSUB with 117 victories.
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Highlighting the 2025 All-GNAC selections, five Yellowjackets —
Hayden Mullins,
Zack Blaszak,
Bodee Wright,
Kaden Kirshenbaum, and
Ryan Jeffrey — received First Team honors. Second Team accolades went to
Sam Coxen,
Jackson Betancourt,
Jack Nehler, and
Ryker Fortier. Rounding out the awards were Honorable Mentions for
Jarret Elmer and
Brennen Chappell.
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The Yellowjackets' success has come from a balanced mix of strong pitching and offensive firepower. MSUB's pitching staff holds a 5.12 ERA—second-best single season team ERA in school history—and leads the GNAC with nine saves. The offense, meanwhile, boasts a .305 batting average, a .446 slugging percentage, and ranks among the league leaders in extra-base hits with 103 doubles, 16 triples, and 39 home runs.
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Leading the pitching staff is no other than senior veteran
Jackson Betancourt. The GNAC all-time starts leader (48) is leading the staff who meet the minimum inning requirement with a 3.37 ERA, total innings pitched (82.2), and strikeouts (63). In relief,
Hayden Mullins has been the anchor for the pitching staff, holding a 2.53 ERA with four wins and three saves through his 42.2 innings of work.
Sam Coxen has notched seven wins in his freshman campaign sitting just one win shy of tying the all-time single season wins record, and
Andy Evans has collected six saves, also one shy of the MSUB single season record.
Brennen Chappell is coming off a nine-inning complete game victory at the GNAC Tournament and
Cy Miller looks to add his sixth win of the season.
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On the offensive attack,
Jack Nehler currently leads the Yellowjackets with a .386 batting average while
Kaden Kirshenbaum is producing the power numbers with a .594 slugging percentage with 18 doubles and nine home runs. Yellowjacket speedsters
Ryker Fortier and
Zack Blaszak have 18 and 15 stolen bases respectively. Blaszak is holding a .371 batting average, a .424 on base percentage, and is now the MSUB single season all-time hits leader with 79 and counting. Also enjoying one of their best seasons to date,
Bodee Wright is slashing .335/.529/.434 with 24 extra base hits while
Ryan Jeffrey is slashing .318/.492/.423 with 41 RBIs.
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Tournament Matchups
The 'Jackets are set to face off against the fourth ranked team in the west region and second in the PacWest, the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (32-12). MSUB and PLNU are 2-2 head-to-head in their history, with the Yellowjackets winning their most recent three game series in San Diego in 2020.
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Win or lose, MSUB will take on the #1 Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks for the 11
th time of the year. During the regular season, both squads went 4-4 but NNU won both postseason matchups, including an 8-7 thriller in the GNAC Championship Game. NNU is the top ranked team in the region and the 14
th ranked team in the nation, sporting a 40-13 record.
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West Regional Schedule
All games played at Elmore W. Vail Field – Nampa, Idaho
Thursday, May 15
- Game 1: #5 MSU Billings vs. #4 Point Loma – 2:00 PM
- Game 2: Game 1 Loser vs. #1 Northwest Nazarene – 6:00 PM
Friday, May 16
- Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. #1 Northwest Nazarene – 6:00 PM
Saturday, May 17
- Game 4: TBD – 2:00 PM
- Game 5 (if necessary): TBD – 6:00 PM
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Helpful Links:
Live Stream
Live Statistics
Regional Page
Tickets
Bracket
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