(MSU Billings release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – Setting the tone with the first of three home runs in the very first at-bat of the weekend, Montana State University Billings baseball senior Kade Hall was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
Hall hit three home runs and drove in nine last weekend in Ellensburg, Wash., helping the Yellowjackets collect a 3-1 series victory over Central Washington University. “Kade was a tough out all weekend, and he put up tremendous numbers,” said MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton. “This is a well-deserved honor for him and he’s been going good all season for us.”
Hall added two doubles, finishing the week with a line of 8-for-18 at the plate while hitting out of the leadoff spot. The senior from Pocatello, Idaho, also drew a pair of walks, helping lead an MSUB offense that scored 49 total runs and tied the GNAC record for home runs in a four-game series with 13.
After a career-high four hits and four RBIs in the opening game of the series, Hall had one of his biggest swings of the bat in Game 2. With the Yellowjackets trailing 5-4 entering the top of the seventh inning, Hall led off the frame with a game-tying home run and watched as his teammates added on four more runs to secure the win.
Hall had four more RBIs in MSUB’s 18-1 Game-3 victory, and kicked off a three-run sixth-inning rally with a leadoff single in Game 4. “As Kade goes, sometimes we go, and he proved this weekend why he’s so important to our lineup,” Sutton commented on his leftfielder. “Those timely hits are so crucial for us as an offense, and he had two pretty big ones for us this weekend.”
Hall is third on the team with a .362 batting average, and he is second with seven home runs and 29 RBIs. He is the only player on MSUB’s team to have started all 30 games, and he has a .426 on-base percentage while slugging at .606.
This is Hall’s first career GNAC Player of the Week honor, and he is the fifth Yellowjacket this season to be recognized by the conference office. Jalen Garcia and Andrew Schleusner have each won the Player of the Week award, and Steen Fredrickson (twice) and Sam Wong have garnered Pitcher of the Week accolades.
The Yellowjackets (19-11, 14-6) enter the week tied for first place in the GNAC standings.
