Yellowjackets Open Dehler Park Friday Versus Northwest Nazarene

BILLINGS, Mont. – The wait is over.  The Montana State Billings baseball team will play its first games at Dehler Park this weekend as it battles visiting Northwest Nazarene in a four game series beginning Friday at 3 p.m. with a doubleheader and concluding Saturday at 1 p.m. with the second doubleheader.

The Yellowjackets enter the series with a 14-18 record overall and an 8-8 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  MSUB is looking to snap a six-game skid and seven-of-eight.  NNU enters the series with a 10-17 record overall and a 4-12 mark in league play.  The next Yellowjacket victory will surpass last season’s win total.  The Crusaders dropped three-of-four at Central Washington last week, after taking three-of four-from Saint Martin’s the previous week.

Leading the way for MSUB this season is Nick Harris who leads the team with a .392 average.  He is second in hits (38), third in doubles (5) and third in RBIs with 16.  Stefan Malkuch leads the team with 39 hits, eight doubles, two triples and 22 RBI.  He is second on the squad in slugging at a .591 clip.  Joe Via (.300) and Chris Round (.284) lead the team with four home runs apiece. 

As a team, the Yellowjackets are hitting .292 for the year with 64 extra-base hits, including 45 doubles, six triples and 13 home runs.  As a squad, the team is slugging .385 and has an on-base percentage of .374.  MSUB has committed 55 miscues on the year leading to 51 unearned runs. 

On the mound, the Yellowjackets boast a 5.42 ERA heading into the weekend series.  Steve Scott (3-3) leads the team in innings pitched with 49 and is third in strikeouts with 27.  He has a 3.67 ERA in eight starts.  Scott also leads the team in complete games with three and has one shutout. Brian Howe is second in innings pitched (43) and has a 5.23 ERA.  Howe leads the squad in strikeouts with 35.

In conference play, Matt Schoonover leads the team with a .383 average as the team is hitting just two-one hundredths of a point lower (.290).  The ‘Jackets have 33 extra-base hits and a .389 slugging percentage.  All four of Rounds’ home runs have come in conference play to lead the way, including three versus Saint Martin’s (Mar. 20-21). 

On the bump, MSUB is holding its conference opponents to a .253 average and 27 extra-base hits.  The ‘Jackets have a 4.20 ERA in conference play and have committed 31 errors for 32 unearned runs.  Brian Strom has a 3-1 mark in conference play.  Archie Smith (2-2) has a team-best 3.08 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work.

The Crusaders enter series led by Jon Keller who leads the team with a .372 average.  He has a team-best 35 hits, second in doubles with nine and second in RBIs with 20.  Joel Oliver leads the team with six home runs and Connor Rankin leads the team with 10 doubles.

As a team NNU is hitting .304 to .277 by its opponents.  The Crusaders have 72 extra-base hits, including 55 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs.  As a team, NNU is slugging .419 and has an on-base percentage of .386.  The Crusaders have a fielding percentage of .943 with 55 errors on the year leading to 48 unearned runs.

On the mound, NNU boasts a 5.60 ERA with five complete games.  Keller, who also pitches, leads the team with 44.1 innings.  He has a 3-2 record in seven starts and one complete game.  Keller’s 4.87 ERA is third-best on the team and he leads the team with 40 strikeouts. 

In the previous series with NNU, the Yellowjackets won all four games (Mar. 6-7) in Nampa, Idaho.  It was the first conference series sweep for MSUB since it joined the league last year.  The Yellowjackets outscored NNU 24-10.  Malkuch led the way going 7 of 16 from the plate with three doubles, one home run and eight RBI.  He earned GNAC Player of the Week honors that week. 

The Yellowjackets held NNU to just .176 from the plate and had a 2.25 ERA for the series.  The Yellowjacket staff was brilliant in the series with three complete games, including a 10-strikeout appearance from Smith.

NNU leads the all-time series 11-9, including 5-3 in Billings.  With the four wins at NNU earlier in the season, the Yellowjackets evened the record in Nampa to 6-6.  Since MSUB joined the league, the Yellowjackets are 7-5 versus NNU.