League-Leading Yellowjackets Open Home Slate Friday

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings will open the home slate 10 days earlier than expected after flip-flopping sites with Saint Martin’s for this weekend’s series against the Saints.  SMU now travels to Billings for a series beginning Friday, Mar. 20 at 11 a.m. at Pirtz Field and concluding Saturday, Mar. 21 at 6 p.m.  Both days are doubleheaders.

Originally, MSUB was scheduled to travel to Saint Martin’s this weekend and host the Saints Apr. 24-25 and now will travel to SMU that weekend.  MSUB returns to Dehler Park this season and will open at Dehler Park, Mar. 31, against Colorado Christian at 3 p.m., as the park was not ready for play this weekend.

The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 13-11 record overall and a league-best 7-1 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Saint Martin’s enters the series with an 8-9-1 record overall and a 3-1-1 record in conference play.  Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon were not able to get their series completed last weekend due to inclement conditions and were tied 4-4 in the 11th of game one when play was suspended.  The Saints have not completed a game since Mar. 8.

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is current GNAC Player of the Week, Stefan Malkuch.  He leads the team with a .438 average in 19 starts.  Malkuch also leads the team in hits (32), doubles (6), tied for the lead in triples (2) and RBIs (19).  He has a team-best 45 total bases and is slugging a team-high .616.  Malkuch also is a team-best 4 for 4 in stolen bases.  Malkuch has been named GNAC Player of the Week twice this season in consecutive weeks.  Nick Harris is second on the team in average at a .413 clip.  He has 31 hits, three doubles, one triple and 11 RBI.  Brian Dukart is hitting .368 through 14 games and is tied for the team lead in triples with two.  He earned conference Player of the Week honors earlier this season as well.

As a team, the Yellowjackets are hitting .291 on the year with 45 extra-base hits, including 32 doubles, six triples and seven home runs.  MSUB has 220 hits on the year and 126 RBIs.  As a squad, MSUB is slugging .377 and have an on-base percentage of .378.  Through 24 games this season, the Yellowjackets have committed just 34 errors compared to 56 miscues at this point last season.

On the mound, the Yellowjackets are led by two-time GNAC Pitcher of the Week Steve Scott.   He leads the starting pitchers with a 2.95 ERA and a 3-1 record in six appearances.  Scott has one shutout and two complete games.  He leads the team with 36.2 innings pitched and is second in strikeouts with 23.  Opponents are hitting just .255 against him.  Brian Howe carries a 2-2 record and a 3.51 ERA in six appearances into the weekend series.  He is second on the team in innings pitched at 33.1 and leads the team with 28 strikeouts.  Howe also leads the team with three complete games.  Malkuch, Cody Clark and Mike Cease each have a save in relief. 

As a staff, the Yellowjackets carry a 4.85 ERA and have 127 strikeouts on the season.  MSUB has walked just 62 batters on the year and have only given up 25 unearned runs (120 – 95 earned runs) as opposed to last season when it allowed 175 runs and 135 earned runs through the first 24 games.

Opponents are hitting just .284 against the Yellowjackets this season and just .196 in conference play.  In fact, MSUB opponents carry a 5.11 ERA in all games and a 5.06 ERA in conference games, while MSUB has an impressive 1.43 ERA in conference play and a 4.85 ERA overall.

Saint Martin’s is led by Ty Drake who is hitting .340 on the year with 16 hits and five RBI.  Jake Owens is second on the team in average at a .323 clip and leads the team with six doubles.  Shane Schoenberg and Andy Cole have combined for five of SMU’s seven home runs on the year.  Schoenberg is second in double with five, leads the team with three triples and is second in home runs with two.  He leads the team with a .522 slugging percentage.  Cole leads the team in hits with 21 and has three round-trippers.

As a team, the Saints are hitting .262 on the year with 36 extra-base hits, including 25 doubles, four triples and seven home runs.  The team is slugging .351 and has an on-base percentage of .362.  SMU has committed 42 errors on the year, leading to 33 unearned runs and a fielding percentage of .940.

The pitching staff is led by Jeff Brooks who owns a team-high 4-1 record and a 3.76 ERA in 13 relief appearances. Brooks leads the team in innings pitch (26.1) and is second in strikeouts with 13.  Kevin Jones carts a 1-1 record and a 4.22 ERA in nine appearances with three starts.  He has pitched 21.1 innings and leads the tam with 15 strikeouts. 

As a team, the Saints carry a 5.76 ERA in 151.2 innings of work and have allowed 130 runs on the year with 97 of them earned.  SMU has 73 strikeouts on the year, but the offense has struck out 125 times.  SMU pitchers have walked just 55 batters, on the flip side.  Opponents are hitting Saint pitching at a .318 clip.

Saint Martin’s owns a 7-0 record in the series with all seven games played last season.  SMU won all four games last year in Lacey and won two games in Billings (14-13 and 8-4) before the series was called due to snow.  The Saints also won an 8-4 neutral site game at Lewis-Clark State in the season opening tournament.

After the Saint Martin’s series, MSUB has just over a week off before it opens at Dehler Park against Colorado Christian, Mar. 31 at 3 p.m., to begin a string of 19-straight home games.