April 29, 2008          
                                                              

Baseball Battles Central Washington in Regular Season Home Finale

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings baseball team completes the home schedule this weekend versus Central Washington with a four-game series beginning Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pirtz Field and concluding Sunday at 1 p.m. as well.

The Jackets enter the week with a 12-32 record overall and a 3-19 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  MSUB snapped nine-game skid with an 8-5 victory over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.  The prior to that game, the Jackets had won just three of their last 19. 

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Levi Johnson who is hitting a team-high .345 on the year.  He leads the team with 23 RBIs and is second in hits with 38 and in home runs with three.  Second on the team in average is Jonathan Schlender who is hitting at a .341 clip.  He leads the team with 47 hits, 11 doubles and 61 total bases.  Schlender is a perfect 8 for 8 in the stolen base department.  Joe Via leads the team with four home runs on the year.

As a team, the Jackets are hitting .273 on the year with 113 extra-base hits, including 72 doubles, 15 triples and 26 home runs.  The team is slugging .404 on the year and has an on-base percentage of .354. 

On the mound, the Jackets are led by Steve Scott who has a 5.37 ERA and a 3-6 record in 11 appearances.  He has made 10 starts with two complete games in a team-high 58.2 innings of work.  Jeremy Knowles is second on the team in ERA at a 5.87 clip.  He has a 2-6 record in 10 appearances with nine stats and one complete game. 

As a team, the Jackets have an ERA of 6.71 in 334 innings with five complete games. 

The Wildcats enter the week with a 25-16 record and a 16-8 record in conference play.  CWU plays a doubleheader with the College of Idaho Tuesday before traveling to Billings.  Heading into the series with College of Idaho, the Wildcats have won seven of 10 games.

Leading the way for CWU this season is Jamie Nilsen who is hitting a blazing .441 in 41 games.  He leads the team with 64 hits, 17 doubles, four triples and is third on the team in home runs with four.  Nilsen also leads the in total bases with 101 and in RBIs with 40.  He is a team-best 12 of 16 in stolen bases.  Frank Donangelo is second on the team hitting at .359, while Nate Rylaarsdam leads the team with six home runs.

As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .304 on the year with 109 extra-base hits, including 75 doubles, 10 triples and 24 home runs.  The team is slugging .436 and has an on-base percentage of .395. 

CWU has committed just 51 errors on the year compared to 114 by the Yellowjackets. 

The pitching staff is led by Derek Shoemaker who has a 3.20 ERA with a 5-4 record.  He has appeared in 10 games with nine starts and five complete games.  Tyler Levin leads the team with 83.2 inning pitched and carries a 3.23 ERA and a 6-4 record.  Levin also has fanned 72 and opponents are hitting .269 against him.  Michael McCanna leads the team with a 6-1 record.

The staff has a 4.75 ERA with 13 complete games in 318 innings of work.  The Wildcats have struck out 271 and walked 124.

Central Washington won all four games in Ellensburg on Mar. 22-23.  The Yellowjackets hit a season-low .209 with just three extra-base hits.  Matt Kakalecik led the team with five hits in the series, including one home run and three RBI.  CWU held the Jackets to just five runs in the series.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series 8-2 including 2-0 in Billings.  CWU posted two wins in Billings on April 11, 2006 with scores of 17-12 and 11-9 at Cobb Field.  The Jackets split a four-game series in Ellensburg last season.