BILLINGS, Mont. – By the time Cody Cooper reached the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, he was locked in. The junior right-hander had an 8-0 lead and eight strikeouts in his pocket, before he mowed down the first two Northwest Nazarene batters he faced in the last frame.
 
When pinch hitter Ethan Brandt grounded out to end the game, Cooper had capped off one of the most successful weekends in recent memory for the Montana State University Billings baseball team. The 'Jackets completed a four-game conference sweep for the first time since 2009, head coach Rob Bishop earned his 500th career victory, and the Yellowjacket pitching staff allowed just six runs and 23 hits in 32 innings of baseball.
 
For the outstanding overall performance, MSUB was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference co-Team of the Week on Monday, sharing the honor with the Saint Martin's baseball team which also had a four-game road sweep.
 
"I am proud of our team and how we played after a tough weekend at Western Oregon last week," commented Bishop. "During the GNAC season, every team will have some ups and downs, but the teams that respond after a rough weekend are usually in the hunt at the end of the year."
 
The way the Yellowjackets ended their previous series against Western Oregon foreshadowed that they were in for a major rebound. The team lost the first three games of the series on the road, before the finale was postponed with MSUB leading 1-0 and having the bases loaded in the top of the first inning.
 
Due for improvement offensively, MSUB batted .320 (40-for-125) as a team and outscored SMU 22-6 over the four-game series. Twelve of the Yellowjackets' hits went for extra bases – including four home runs – and MSUB was outstanding defensively with 129 successful plays in 131 chances (.985).
 
Cooper's shutout earned him GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors, after he allowed just four hits and a walk in his seven-inning masterpiece. He wasn't the first Yellowjacket to dazzle on the mound however, as Tanner Johnson, Jake Mills and Jake Campeau each also had quality starts for the 'Jackets.
 
Overall MSUB combined for 40 strikeouts against just eight walks, while holding NNU to a .204 batting average as a team. MSUB's bullpen was nearly perfect, as Lucas Blehm, Adam Cox and Lee Busto combined to strike out 10, walk one and allow four hits in 7 2/3 innings. Blehm earned his first save of the season, and Cox recorded a pair of saves on Day 1 for the 'Jackets.
 
Offensively, junior utility player Kyle Durbin hit back-to-back game-winning doubles in the final inning of each game on Friday, as he sparked key rallies in both contests that led to wins. Durbin also hit his first home run of the season on Saturday, drove in a team-high seven runs, and played error-free defense in the series.
 
During last season's series at Northwest Nazarene, it was then-sophomore Luke Reinschmidt who earned GNAC Player of the Week honors after he became just the third player in GNAC history to hit for the cycle.
 
He nearly pulled off the feat again last weekend, hitting a home run in the first and a triple in the third to complete the two hardest legs early on in the series finale. After an infield single in the fifth, the junior center fielder was just a double away from his second cycle 358 days after his first.
 
In his final at bat in the seventh inning, he scorched a line drive into left center that hung up just long enough for NNU's Josh Hatfield to track down, taking away what would have likely been a double and a historic moment.
 
Reinschmidt finished the weekend batting a team-high .600 (9-for-15) and scored three runs while getting on base at .625 and slugging 1.000.
 
Hitting his sixth home run of the season in the series was senior second baseman Brody Miller, who moved into fifth place all-time in GNAC career hits with 223. He also played error-free defense in 18 chances at second base, and now has the third-most assists in conference history with 423.
 
With the momentum of four-straight victories on their side, the second-place Yellowjackets will make their long-awaited 2015 home debut this weekend in what figures to be a classic matchup against co-Team of the Week Saint Martin's. After beginning the season with 28-straight games on the road, MSUB is set to play its next 17 at home in the friendly confines of Dehler Park.
 
The 'Jackets played about as well as they could have last week, but in Bishop's eyes it was only the start. "I believe our best baseball is still ahead of us," he said. "We are looking forward to the rest of the GNAC season."