May 8, 2008          
                                                                  

Yellowjackets Complete Season at Western Oregon

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings baseball completes the 2008 regular season Friday and Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Western Oregon.  The Jackets stand at 13-35 overall and 4-22 in the conference.

Last weekend, the Yellowjackets took one of four games from Central Washington in the regular season home finale for just their fifth win in the past 24 games.  MSUB won the nightcap last Saturday behind a strong pitching performance from Brian Howe.  He went all seven innings, allowing nine hits, five runs – three earned, four walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Jonathan Schlender who is hitting a team-high .351 on the year in 42 games.  He also leads the team with 54 hits, 13 doubles, 24 RBIs and 73 total bases.  Schlender is a perfect 8 for 8 in stolen bases.  Second on the team in average is Nick Harris who is hitting .348 for the year.  Harris is slugging a team-high .636 and has a team-best .419 on base percentage.  Levi Johnson, who had been leading the team in average for much of the season, has dipped a bit to .336, but leads the team with Joe Via with four home runs each.

As a team, the Jackets are hitting .275 for the year.  They have 125 extra base hits with 80 doubles, 16 triples and 29 home runs.  MSUB is slugging .407 as a team and has an on base percentage of .353. 

The staff has a 7.01 ERA on the year and Steve Scott leads the way with a 3-7 record and a 5.97 ERA.  Scott has made 12 appearances with 11 starts and two complete games in a team-high 60.2 innings pitched.  Scott also leads the team with 42 strikeouts.  Howe is 3-2 on the year with a 6.16 ERA with a team-high 14 appearances.  He is third on the team in innings pitched with 49.2. 

First-place Western Oregon enters the week with a 36-16 record overall and a 22-7 record in the conference after winning three of four against Saint Martin’s over the weekend.  The Wolves are led by Dylan Bruck who his hitting a team-best .404 on the year with 76 hits, 19 doubles, six triples and 113 total bases.  Bruck also leads the team with a .601 slugging percentage and has swiped 36 bags.  Cesar Lopez is second on the team hitting .361 with 56 hits and a team-high 42 RBIs. 

The Wolves’ staff is led by Mike Ward who is 8-1 on the year with a 3.28 ERA in 16 appearances.  He has eight starts with three complete games and two shutouts in 68.2 innings pitched.  Mike Cushick is 5-4 with a team-high Jared Neyens leads the relievers with a 2.20 ERA.  He has made 16 appearances with a 3-1 record.

Western Oregon has won all five meetings played this season, including four in Billings and one neutral site win at the Lewis-Clark State Tournament.  WOU also leads the all-time series 5-0 as well.

The Yellowjackets are hitting .253 against the Wolves this season, while WOU is hitting .349.  Schlender has a team-high seven hits against WOU with one double.  Harris has two home runs against the Wolves.