Baseball | 3/6/2014 12:06:00 PM

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team welcomes Montana State University Billings Friday and Saturday in a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheaders.

The Wolves (9-8, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) enters the four-game series after taking three of four versus Central Washington to open GNAC play last week. WOU, ninth in the West Region, opens the conference schedule with the second and third picked teams in the GNAC preseason poll. Western Oregon topped the rating, followed by CWU and Montana State Billings.

The Yellowjackets, who will be opening their conference schedule, are off to a slow start this season. They have won only one of the first 12 games, and enter the weekend series on a five-game skid. Looking at common opponents, both MSUB and the Wolves have played Lewis-Clark State and Concordia this season. WOU went 1-3 at Lewis-Clark State and dropped a home game to Concordia, while MSU Billings did beat either team.

Brody Miller is leading the conference with a .488 batting average. The junior has three doubles and a pair of home runs this season, and has driven in a team-best eight RBI. Blake Loran and Brad Birch have also been solid at the plate. Jake Mills (1-2) has a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings of work. Matt Eames, Drew Christina, and Jake Campeau all have seen plenty of time on the mound this season as well.

After dropping three straight, Western Oregon is currently on a three-game win streak. Parker Miles and Eric Huson were named the conference Player and Pitcher of the Week Monday.

Miles hit 9-for-19 with four runs scored, three doubles and seven RBI as WOU won 3-of-4 from Central Washington in the teams' GNAC-opening series. Batting in the third spot in the order, Miles collected at least one hit in each of WOU's games against the Wildcats, turning in a solid 3-for-4 performance with two runs scored and two RBI in the Wolves' narrow 5-3 win in Game 3 of the series. In the final game, Miles scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to push WOU to a dramatic 3-2 win and the series victory. Miles also handled 14 chances at second base without an error, turning in 11 assists and three put outs.

Huson earned his second victory of the season with a stellar 8-inning start against Central Washington Saturday. Huson scattered six hits and one walk over his eight frames, allowing one earned run and collecting six strikeouts. Huson retired 12 straight batters over a four-inning stretch, silencing the CWU bats from the second-through-fifth innings. The junior finished strong, striking out three of the final eight hitters he faced en route to the win.

Matt Taylor is hitting a team-best .333, Nathan Etheridge is right behind at .327. Chris Bradshaw and Taylor are one and two in the GNAC in runs scored this season with 14 and 13. Etheridge and Daniel McNabb lead the conference with 11 RBI. Taylor is also first with six stolen bases. As a team, Western Oregon is 15th in NCAA Div. II with 15 double-plays.

The Wolves and Montana State Billings begin their four-game series at 1 p.m. Friday. Live stats will be available on WOUWolves.com. Saturday's doubleheader, which starts at noon, will have live video on WOUWolves.com and on KWVT throughout the Willamette Valley.