Yellowjackets Open Conference Play at Northwest Nazarene Friday

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings baseball team opens up the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate at Northwest Nazarene Friday.  The Yellowjackets and Crusaders will play a doubleheader Friday at 4 p.m., followed by another doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.

The Yellowjackets enter the series winners of five of eight after starting 1-7.  MSUB won three of four at Grand Canyon last weekend and split a four game series with the University of Mary earlier this week.  MSUB stands at 6-10 on the year, while NNU enters the series with a 6-5 record and have lost four straight. 

Leading the way for MSUB this season is Nick Harris who leads the team with a .463 average and has a current 10-game hitting streak.  Harris also leads the team in hits with 19 and is tied for second on the squad in doubles with three.  He is second on the team in total bases with 22.  Second on the team in average is Great Northwest Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Week, Brian Dukart.  Dukart went on a tear last week as he hit. 500 in the series’ at Grand Canyon and versus Mary.  He had four extra-base hits and slugged .875 and reached base 56 percent of the time.

Stefan Malkuch also is hitting over .400 this season at a .429 clip in 11 starts.  He is second in hits with 18 and is tied for the team lead with Dukart in triples with two.  Matt Schoonover leads the team in RBI’s with 11, while four different Yellowjackets have hit home runs.

As a team, the Yellowjackets are batting .294 on the year with 31 extra-base hits and 144 total hits.  MSUB has 83 RBIs on the year with 187 total bases and a .382 slugging percentage.  In the last eight games, MSUB’s hitting improved to .325 a slugging percentage of .439.  Opponents have hit just .279 in the last eight games.  The Yellowjackets have 20 extra-base hits and 77 total hits during that span.

On the mound, the Yellowjackets are led by Malkuch who is 1-1 on the year with a 1.29 ERA.  Nate Kolata is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA as he took the loss in a tough 4-2 loss versus Mary as he surrendered just one run in four innings.  Steve Scott leads the way in starts (4), innings pitched (22.2) and strikeouts (15).  He is 1-1 on the year with a 4.37 ERA.

As a team, the Yellowjackets carry a 6.75 ERA in 113.1 innings into conference play.  MSUB has two complete games by Brian Howe and Brian Strom.  As a staff, MSUB has allowed just 19 unearned runs on the year as opposed to 32 by its opponents. 

During the current road trip, the ERA has dipped to 5.83 in 54 innings of work.  MSUB has 44 strikeouts to just 25 walks and has surrendered just eight unearned runs, while the opponents have a 6.22 ERA and have allowed 23 unearned runs. 

Not only are the offensive and pitching numbers up, so is the fielding for the Yellowjackets as MSUB has just 11 errors in the last eight games, compared to 13 in the first eight.  In addition, MSUB has scored 61 runs in the last eight games, compared to 50 in the first eight.

Northwest Nazarene enters conference play looking to get back on track as it dropped its last four games and five of seven.  NNU lost all four games at the Lewis-Clark State Tournament, Feb. 19-21.  Included in those losses were two to conference rival Saint Martin’s, by a combined four runs.  In fact, NNU lost all four games by a total of six runs.

The Crusaders have not played since Feb. 21 and are led this season by Boone Farrington who is one of four Crusaders who have played in all 11 games.  Farrington leads the team with a .406 average.  He is tied for third in hits with 13 and is tied for the team lead in triples with one.  Joel Oliver is second on the team in average at .394, while Jon Keller leads the team in hits with 15 and RBIs with 12.  Connor Rankin has belted two round-trippers this season to lead the squad.

As a team, the Crusaders are hitting .309 on the year with 33 extra-base hits and 118 total hits.  NNU is slugging .435 on the year, while the team has reached base 40 percent of the team.  In the field, NNU has committed 23 errors, leading to 18 unearned runs.

On the mound, Keller leads the team with a 3.15 ERA in three starts and boasts a 2-0 record.  He also leads the team in innings pitched at 20 and strikeouts with 15.  Ryan Brown has a 1-0 record in three starts for NNU.  The staff carries a 5.52 ERA with two complete games and one save into the weekend series.  The Crusaders have allowed 18 unearned runs to go along with 82 strikeouts and 66 walks.  Teams are hitting just .261 against the Crusaders.

Last season, MSUB split the series in Nampa as it was one of the best series’ for MSUB of the year.  The Yellowjackets hit .302 against the Crusaders as Levi Johnson led the way with a .462 average.  He had six hits and one triple to go along with two RBI. MSUB had 13 extra-base hits in the series, including 11 doubles.

On the mound Scott was brilliant in his start as he went the distance, allowing four hits and one earned run in nine innings to get the win.  He also has two strikeouts and NNU hit just .138 against him.

NNU won the series 5-3, taking three of four in Billings.  However, the series was not short on high-scoring games or excitement as each of the eight games had one team scoring at least five runs, including a 12 inning game (9-7 L) and a 15-9 victory in the series opener in Nampa by the Yellowjackets.    

The Crusaders lead the all-time series, 11-5 and 6-2 in Nampa. 

After the NNU series, the Yellowjackets continue on the road at Central Washington and at Saint Martin’s, prior to the home opener at newly renovated Dehler Park, Mar. 31, versus Colorado Christian.