Baseball | 4/8/2015 10:37:00 AM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (April 7) -- The Central Washington baseball hits the road this weekend for a four-game series against Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Montana State Billings (MSUB), who holds second-place going into the weekend with just three conference series' left to play.
The last time these two teams met in early March, they split a series in which both teams scored 32 runs throughout the four game set. Balance seems like the theme, as both teams are .500 against each other at home. Central is 18-18 at home, while Billings is 15-15.
Although the Wildcats are 8-12 in GNAC play, they trail Norwest Nazarene for the final spot in the GNAC tournament by three games. Billings is 9-6 in GNAC play.
Some of the GNAC's best bats will be on display. Central's
Kasey Bielec and
Darren Honeysett have been the driving force behind the Wildcat's bats. Bielec leads the conference in hitting with a .403 batting average. Honeysett isn't far behind as he's raised his batting average to .395 and he also leads the team in homers (7) and RBIs (30).
Billings' biggest bat, Luke Reinschmidt, is third in the conference in batting (.389) and has slugged eight homers, good for second in the GNAC. Reinschmidt also leads the conference in RBIs with 38. Reinschmidt isn't alone though; teammate Brody Miller, reigning GNAC player of the year, is hitting .357 and has smacked eight homers and 32 RBIs. The Yellowjackets have six of the GNACs top 20 hitters.
The keynote matchup will be the pitching staffs, as Dehler Park in Billings can sometimes act as a launching pad with the thin air at elevation. In 2014, Central pounded out 44 runs in the four game series where they took three of four from the Yellowjackets in Billings.
The MSUB pitching staff sports a 6.60 team earned run average, while the Wildcats team ERA is 4.90, but boasts the conference saves leader (7) in
Cory Welch. What's been remarkable about Welch's season thus far is that he 's been tasked with starting as well as closing and has flourished in both roles, compiling a 3.09 ERA, third best among GNAC pitchers.
The Wildcats control their own destiny, as their next two series versus MSUB and Northwest Nazarene will go a long way in determining who nabs a berth to the GNAC tournament.
