Season Review: Yellowjacket Baseball reaches new milestone with 30 wins, 2nd straight title

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, May 19, 2016 Season Review: Yellowjacket Baseball reaches new milestone with 30 wins, 2nd straight title

Winning the GNAC regular season title for the second straight year and reaching the conference tournament for the third time in the last four years, MSUB’s baseball team broke a school record for wins with 30 in its best season to date.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Remarkable runs of late-season victories have carried the Montana State University Billings baseball team in each of the last two seasons, as the Yellowjackets set a new benchmark for wins for a second straight season with 30 in 2016.

The Yellowjackets won seven straight games and 11 of 12 to end the regular season as co-champion with Northwest Nazarene University, as both teams finished the year 23-15 in league play. MSUB reached 30 overall wins for the first time since baseball was reintroduced prior to the 2006 season, setting a record for winning percentage at .600 with a record of 30-20.

Winning 20 of their final 25 games to post their first-ever winning season and conference title in 2015, the Yellowjackets built on the success and had an even better season behind sixth-year head coach Rob Bishop. “We met a lot of milestones with our first 30-win season, and winning back-to-back regular-season titles,” said Bishop, who upped his record to 135-153 (.469) in his tenure at MSUB. “We continued our momentum off the field as well, with another great academic year.”

By mid-April, the ‘Jackets were treading water in the GNAC standings, staying alive at 12-13 in league play after an 8-4 win over Northwest Nazarene on April 16. A grueling, nine-game road trip to Oregon over the span of the next eight days was next up on the schedule, and MSUB’s performance on the trip would come to define its season.

Not only did the ‘Jackets play above .500, they took 3 of 4 at Concordia and 4 of 5 at Western Oregon to enter the final weekend of the year in second place with a mark of 19-15 in league play. From there, three wins against Saint Martin’s would guarantee a berth in the conference tournament, while a four-game sweep would give the ‘Jackets a chance at another regular-season title and tournament hosting rights.

Giving the ball to junior ace Cody Cooper in Game 3 after a sweep on Day 1, the ‘Jackets edged SMU in a 6-5, extra-inning win to clinch a tournament spot, and then blew the Saints away 17-2 to finish the sweep and repeat as conference champion.

MSUB’s coaching staff, Parker Kruckenberg (left) and Rob Bishop. The Yellowjacket head coach led the ‘Jackets to their first-ever 30-win season.

“Our unique challenge here is playing our first 25 games on the road,” Bishop said. “In order for us to have good overall seasons, we need to put it together in second half, and we have done that in each of the last two years.”

By virtue of holding the tiebreaker over MSUB, the Crusaders hosted the GNAC tournament, where the Yellowjackets opened with a convincing, 10-2 win over Western Oregon. Senior leader and third baseman Kyle Durbin went down with an injury late in a tough 4-3 loss to NNU in Game 2 however, and MSUB never recovered as an 18-1 loss to WOU eliminated the ‘Jackets and ended their season.

Leading the team all season and finishing off one of the best careers in MSUB history, senior center fielder Luke Reinschmidt played his way to first-team all-region honors for the second straight season and also became just the seventh player in league history to earn first-team allGNAC honors for three seasons.

The senior led the GNAC in runs scored (50) and plate appearances (224), ranked second in RBIs, at-bats (192), and home runs (10), third in doubles (15), walks (27), stolen bases (11), and total bases (114), fourth in triples (3), fifth in slugging percentage (.594), sixth in hits (63), and eighth in onbase percentage (.413). Reinschmidt had two multi-home run games this season, and finished his career with the eighth-most long balls in conference history with 22 in his three seasons. The Billings native's 127 career RBIs are sixth-most in the history of the GNAC, and his 12 career triples are fourth most.

Senior Luke Reinschmidt finished his career as one of the top players in GNAC history.

Reinschmidt was twice picked as the GNAC Player of the Week, an honor he received four times during his career. He is also one of just three players in GNAC history to hit for the cycle, which he achieved as a sophomore in 2014.

“Luke had a great career at MSU Billings,” Bishop said. “For him to accomplish what he did in three seasons is really something we won’t appreciate until we look back at it in the future. He’s a guy on and off the field that you absolutely cannot replace.”

GNAC Career Runs Batted In Leaders Rk. Name School 1.

Greg McCarthy Western Oregon Jamie Nilsen Central Washington 3.

Bryce Gardinier Western Oregon 4.

Brody Miller MSU Billings 5.

Chandler Tracy Saint Martin’s 6.

Luke Reinschmidt MSU Billings 7.

Sean McDonald Northwest Nazarene 8.

Matt Lowe Northwest Nazarene 9.

Adam Siler Saint Martin’s 10. Colby Robison MSU Billings

RBIs 183 183 165 158 138 127 125 124 118 111

Years 2002-05 2005-08 2000-03 2012-15 2012-15 2014-16 2009-12 2000-03 2004-07 2011-13

While Reinschmidt carried the team offensively, Cooper put together the best season on the mound in MSUB history and earned second-team all-region honors by leading the NCAA Division II west region in strikeouts with 106. The total shattered the previous season-high of 79 at MSUB, and was the second-highest single-season strikeout total in GNAC history.

Cooper, the third player ever in the league to reach 100 strikeouts in a year, also led the conference with 99 1/3 innings pitched and ranked fourth with a 2.81 earned run average. Cooper had five 10-plus strikeout games, including a 2016 GNAC single-game high 13 against Northwest Nazarene on April 16. He was a unanimous first-team all-GNAC pick, tying MSUB’s single-season win record with seven.

“Cody put together a great season on the field, and it was really a culmination of him being committed to his development during the past three years,” said Bishop. “The numbers just finally caught up to the commitment that he’s shown. I am looking forward to getting to be around him each day for his senior year and seeing what he can achieve.”

GNAC Single-Season Strikeouts Leaders Rk. Name School 1.

Roger Evenson Northwest Nazarene 2.

Cody Cooper Montana State Billings 3.

Nick Waechter Western Oregon 4.

Gordon Chubb Central Washington 5.

Blake Keitzman Western Oregon 6.

AJ Burke Western Oregon 7.

Grady Wood Western Oregon Brandon Williams Central Washington 9.

Tyler Levin Central Washington Spenser Watkins Western Oregon

Strikeouts 116 106 102 99 92 91 89 89 88 88

Season 2005 2016 2005 2005 2009 2013 2012 2014 2008 2013

GNAC Career Strikeouts Leaders Rk. Name School 1.

Nick Waechter Western Oregon 2.

Roger Evenson Northwest Nazarene 3.

Brady Muller Montana State Billings 4.

Steven Schutte Northwest Nazarene 5.

Mike Ward Western Oregon 6.

Mike Eisenhauer Western Oregon 7.

Kirk Lind Western Oregon 8.

Neil Elder Northwest Nazarene 9.

Spenser Watkins Western Oregon 10. Josh Moss Saint Martin’s 11. Blake Keitzman Western Oregon 12. Aaron Vaughn Northwest Nazarene Grady Wood Western Oregon Zeb Sneed Northwest Nazarene 15. Charles Pollock Northwest Nazarene 16. Cody Cooper Montana State Billings

Strikeouts 269 246 232 231 223 185 179 175 171 169 168 166 166 166 165 164

Seasons 2004-06 2003-05 2012-15 2002-04 2007-11 2007-09 2009-12 2000-03 2013-14 2012-15 2009-10 2011-14 2011-12 2010-12 2009-12 2014-16

Along with Reinschmidt’s veteran presence in the outfield, a full cast of seniors around the horn helped lead the ‘Jackets to the groundbreaking season.

Junior Cody Cooper shattered MSUB’s records for strikeouts (106) and innings pitched (99 1/3) in a season.

Durbin at third base, Corey Morris at shortstop, Colter Sternhagen at second, and Kevin Toon at first base gave MSUB a fully-senior infield with experience at every position.

After joining the team as a junior in 2015 and batting .275, Durbin had a breakout season as he led the GNAC in on-base percentage (.476) and ranked fourth with a .378 batting average. The Idaho Falls, Idaho native led the squad with 65 hits, including a dozen doubles, four home runs and 23 RBIs. Durbin’s highlights included a pair of five-hit games, and a walkoff walk to give MSUB a big 8-7 win over Western Oregon under the lights on March 26. He earned his second career GNAC Player of the Week honor in the final week of the season, and was a first-team all-conference and academic all-league selection.

“In order to have a great season as a team, you need to have a few guys who have exceptional years, and Kyle is a great example of that,” said Bishop. “He was hitting at top of league for nearly the entire season, and is also a guy who all of our young guys look up to. He carries himself like a pro.”

Despite getting off to a slow start and batting below .200 into April, Morris rebounded to hit north of .350 the rest of the season and wound up fourth on the team with 28 RBIs. Finishing the year with a bang, Morris delivered his first career home run on Senior Day, a game in which he went 4-for-6 with six RBIs and four runs scored.

Defensively, Morris closed the year strong as well, with only one error in his final 10 games. He tied Sternhagen for the team lead in double plays with 22 on the season, and was an honorable mention all-league pick. In just two seasons, Morris climbed to No. 6 in MSUB history with 257 assists.

MSUB Career Hits Leaders Rk. Name Hits 1.

Brody Miller 249 2.

Matt Schoonover 213 3.

Luke Reinschmidt 192 4.

Colby Robison 168 5.

Kevin Toon 134 6.

Jeff Ridgeway 131 Colter Sternhagen 131 8.

Kyle Durbin 111 9.

Austin Rue 105 10. Corey Morris 96

Years 2012-15 2007-10 2014-16 2011-13 2014-16 2008-11 2013-16 2015-16 2011-13 2015-16

Sternhagen, who had his best season yet with MSUB, played along Morris all year long up the middle at second base. The Helena, Mont., native batted .267 with five home runs, 13 doubles, and two triples, and ranked third on the team with 37 RBIs. Sternhagen played in all 50 games and started 49, and was exceptional defensively with a fielding percentage of .966 in 207 chances.

In three years with the ‘Jackets, Sternhagen finished third in MSUB history in doubles (34), fourth in home runs (12), and RBIs (96), fifth in at-bats (497), total bases (205), and assists (260), and sixth in runs (88), and hits (131).

MSUB’s senior infielders (L to R) Kevin Toon, Colter Sternhagen, Kyle Durbin, and Corey Morris, each finished their careers in the top-10 in MSUB history for hits.

On the receiving end of almost every infield assist on the year, Toon broke MSUB’s career putouts record with 283 in 2016 to push his three-year total to 680. Toon also set a single-season record for fielding percentage at .997, breaking his own mark of .994 set last year.

Toon led the GNAC in walks with 31, and tied for ninth in GNAC history with 79 in his career. Carrying a six-game hitting streak into the season, Toon got hits in each of his first 12 games to push the streak to 18 games and tie for ninth in GNAC history and fourth in MSUB history. Toon also reached base in a stretch of 31 consecutive games dating back to last year, marking the longest such streak in program history.

“The strength of our team this year was having seniors in our infield, and Luke in center,” said Bishop. “The difference between this team and other teams is even when we had a below average day, we could win because of that moxie and experience we had on the field for virtually every game.”

Kevin Toon broke MSUB’s career putouts record with 680 in his three seasons.

While MSUB relied on veteran leadership and consistency, it also received a boost from sophomore Adam Cox both on the mound and at the plate. Hitting a home run in his first career at bat, Cox signaled he was on his way to leading

the GNAC in RBIs with 47 and ranking second with a .629 slugging percentage. Starting 43 games as MSUB’s designated hitter, Cox hit .371 with 12 doubles, nine home runs, and an on-base percentage of .460. He earned GNAC Player of the Week honors two times, racking up 59 hits and 100 total bases.

On the mound as the Yellowjackets’ closer, Cox ranked third in the league with five saves, and had 37 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings pitched. Cox also won six games in 17 appearances, and broke MSUB’s career saves record with nine in two seasons. Cox was a second-team all-region pick as a utility player and honorable mention selection as a designated hitter, after earning second-team all-league honors both as a DH and closer.

“Adam came into his own at the plate this year, and was a guy who really surprised everyone,” said Bishop. “We see his talent every day in practice, but to see it come together in the middle of a title run was really exceptional. On the mound, he had a great first half of the year, and was as dominant as anyone in the league.”

MSUB Single-Season Batting Avg. Leaders Rk. Name Avg. Year 1.

Brody Miller .392 2014 2.

Matt Schoonover .378 2007 Kyle Durbin .378 2016 4.

Ty Gilmore .373 2012 5.

Adam Cox .371 2016 6.

Luke Reinschmidt .370 2015 7.

Brian Dukart .366 2009 8.

Stefan Malkuch .364 2009 9.

Kevin Zukaitis .362 2010 10. Luke Reinschmidt .359 2014 Complementing Cooper’s career year on the mound, senior Tanner In his first year as a hitter in MSUB’s lineup, sophomore Adam Cox led the GNAC in RBIs (47) and ranked second in slugging Johnson started a dozen games and struck out 76 batters in 77 1/3 percentage (.629). innings with a 4.19 ERA. Johnson had three double-digit strikeout games, and twice earned GNAC Pitcher of the Week. Johnson and Cox combined for one of MSUB’s two shutouts on the year, and the former earned NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week after an 11-strikeout, complete-game effort against Saint Martin’s on May 5.

MSUB Single Season Strikeout Leaders Rk. Name Ks Year 1.

Cody Cooper 106 2016 2.

Brady Muller 79 2015 3.

Tanner Johnson 76 2016 4.

Brady Muller 64 2013 5.

Kody Kennedy 59 2011 6.

Kody Kennedy 54 2010 Brian Howe 54 2009 Tanner Johnson 54 2015

Despite pitching just two seasons for MSUB, Johnson ranks sixth in career innings pitched (142 2/3), fourth in strikeouts (130), and tied for third in wins (10).

MSUB Career Strikeout Leaders Rk. Name Ks 1.

Brady Muller 232 2.

Cody Cooper 164 3.

Brian Howe 143 4.

Tanner Johnson 130 5.

Brian Hutchings 120 6.

Kody Kennedy 113 7.

Samuel Paterson 98

Years 2012-15 2014-16 2008-11 2015-16 2010-12 2010-11 2012-13

Joining Cooper and Johnson as a primary starter in the rotation, junior Matt Hape led the team with three complete games in a dozen starts in his first year at MSUB. Hape struck out 37 batters in 49 2/3 inning, posting a 6.89 ERA on the year. Freshman Jared Winslow emerged into a starter by season’s end as well, and held the third-best ERA on the team at 4.72. Winslow had 31 strikeouts in 40 innings, and earned his first career win on Feb. 20 at Metro State in the midst of a four-game sweep.

“The strength of our pitching staff was that we had a different guy step up for us each weekend,” Bishop said. “Matt won two or three huge games, and arguably the turning point in our season was inserting Jared into our rotation which gave us a boost.

Tanner struggled in the middle of the year a bit, but started and finished really strong, and gave us great outings throughout his two years here.”

Wrapping up his career No. 1 in Yellowjacket history and No. 5 in GNAC history in career appearances with 72, senior right-hander Lee Busto led the league for the second straight year in appearances with 23. With 20 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings, Busto saved his best appearance for last as he posted four scoreless innings against Western Oregon in MSUB’s final game of the year.

GNAC Career Pitching Appearance Leaders Rk. Name School 1.

Kalen Hruza Northwest Nazarene 2.

Tip Wonhoff Saint Martin’s 3.

Kaleb Wilson Saint Martin’s 4.

Nick Patee Northwest Nazarene 5.

Lee Busto MSU Billings 6.

Chase Decoito Saint Martin’s 7.

Anthony LaDue Saint Martin’s 8.

Aaron Stuvland Northwest Nazarene 9.

Ryan Brown Northwest Nazarene Brad Banker Saint Martin’s

Appearances 85 80 77 74 72 71 69 67 66 66

Senior Lee Busto finished his career with more appearances than anyone in MSUB history (72).

Years 2008-11 2004-07

2008-12 2003-06 2013-16 2012-15 2010, 2012-14

2002-05 2009-12 2012-15

After starting left fielder Casey Merritt was sidelined with an injury 15 games into the season, the ‘Jackets relied upon a solid trio to fill the corner outfield spots in juniors Myles Berkram and Zach Robinson and freshman Alec Leighton. Starting 41 games primarily in right field, Berkram reached base at a clip of .349 and had five doubles and 14 RBIs. He also led the team with eight assists from the outfield, and tied with Robinson for the team high in stolen bases with six.

In his first year in the program, Robinson batted .272 with five doubles and a dozen RBIs, while reaching base at a solid mark of .364. Taking advantage of playing time as a true freshman, Leighton finished the year with the fifth-best batting average on the team at .286 in 63 at-bats. Leighton showed solid potential with five doubles and 11 RBIs, while reaching base at .357 in 17 starts and 27 total games.

“We struggled a bit with consistency at the corner spots, and part of that was losing Casey early in the year,” said Bishop. “Those other three guys did a great job of filling in the gaps, and each of them played well enough in stretches for us to compete at the plate and defensively.”

Returning to the team after recovering from an injury last year, junior Tanner Watson posted a .321 batting average with three doubles and a home run in 53 at bats primarily as a pinch hitter. Watson also saw some time at first base, and drove in 10 runs while slugging .434 and reaching base at .410. Playing error-free defense, Watson made 65 plays without a miscue as well.

Junior Myles Berkram (right) was a key player in right field for the ‘Jackets.

Like Watson, junior Bryon Baker was also coming off of an injury and supplied the ‘Jackets with 10 solid appearances out of the bullpen.

Striking out eight batters in 10 innings, Baker led the team by holding opponents to a .176 batting average. Freshman Steen Fredrickson also saw significant time out of the bullpen, striking out 14 batters in 19 innings over six appearances.

“Tanner made an impact at the plate for us this year, and he played a pivotal role on our last road trip as he got some big hits down the stretch,” said Bishop. “He was a great threat off the bench for most of the year. Bryon showed progress each weekend towards getting back to being the guy we know he can be on the mound, and he had many solid outings for us. I’m looking forward to both of these guys getting back to full strength on the mound.”

Junior Bryon Baker held opposing hitters to a .176 batting average against as a key reliever for the ‘Jackets.

Senior twins Drew Christina and Brett Christina, and left-hander Dylan Goldsack finished their careers at MSUB as well.

Drew started seven games on the mound and struck out 22 batters in 29 innings, while holding a 5.59 ERA. Brett held a .333 average off the bench as a pinch hitter, and launched his first-career home run over the fence in left-center field at Dehler Park on Senior Day against Saint Martin’s.

Behind the plate, sophomore Landon Peterson led the team with 315 putouts and paced the GNAC with 19 runners caught stealing on the season. The sophomore batted .195 while driving in a dozen runs and getting on base at .364.

Freshman Matt Dillon earned nine starts and played in 27 games as a catcher and outfielder, picking up seven hits and posting a strong fielding percentage of .969 in 65 chances.

“Landon was the backbone of our defense and pitching staff on that side of the ball,” Bishop said. “He held every team in check from a running game standpoint, and all of our pitchers respect the work he puts in and want him back there.”

As a team, the ‘Jackets broke their own GNAC record for walks in a season – set last year – with 222 free passes at the plate in 2016. MSUB led the GNAC in on-base percentage at .393, and was second with 309 runs scored in 50 games (6.18 runs per game). The team’s fielding percentage of .968 was the best in program history, as was its team ERA of 4.94.

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