MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois Baseball team will hit the road for a midweek match up with Bradley at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 14.
The Fighting
Leathernecks (8-19, 1-3 Summit) will take a short break from Summit League action to travel to Peoria, Ill. for Wednesday's game against the Braves (9-17, 3-6 MVC).
Western dropped three of four games to North Dakota State in conference action this past weekend by scores of 10-9, 14-2 and 14-7 but picked up a 6-3 win in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday for their first league win of the season. Bradley will be the 14th different opponent that the Leathernecks have faced this season.
Bradley enters Wednesday's tilt after sweeping Missouri State in a three-game series over the weekend. The Braves won by scores of 7-0, 6-4 and 9-8 to pick up their first three Missouri Valley Conference wins of the season.
Western Illinois at Bradley
When: Wednesday, April 14 at 6 p.m.
Location: Peoria, Ill.
Field: O'Brien Field (Capacity: 7,500 Dimensions: 310-400-310)
Coverage
Radio
• Rocky Vision
Ryan Bower, play-by-play
Live Rocky Vision radio broadcast (Free)
2010 record: 9-17 Overall, 3-6 MVC
Series: Western trails 39-47
Last: April, 2009; WIU lost 9-13 at Peoria, Ill.
Head
Coach: Elvis Dominguez
Alma
Mater, Year: Creighton, 1986
School record: 26-48 (2nd)
Career record: 204-247-2 (9th)
Leatherneck Notes
Against Bradley: The series
The
Leathernecks trail 39-47 in the overall series against the Braves including a 13-9 loss when the teams last met on April 14, 2009.
The teams were scheduled to play games in both 2007 and 2008, but inclement weather forced the postponement of both contests.
Against Bradley: The last meeting
The
last
meeting between the Braves and the Leathernecks took place April 14, 2009 in Peoria where Bradley came away with a 13-9 victory.
Drew Laidig and Tyler Metcalf each finished the game 2-for-5 with two RBI and five other Leatherneck batters drove in a run each. John Koszulinski and Cooper Stewart picked two hits apiece.
Bradley jumped out to an early 8-1 lead before Western rallied to tie the game at 8-8 with five runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth, but the Braves would plate five runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the final 13-9.
Austin Brough took the loss on the mound, allowing two runs on two walks in two innings of relief work.
Koszulinski rips Bison
Junior catcher John Koszulinski ripped North Dakota State pitchers over the weekend. The Frankfort, Ill., native batted .533 (8-for-15) with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored and eight RBI in four games against the Bison.
Koszulinski enter's Wednesday's contest on a seven-game hitting streak dating back to March 31. He is batting .538 (14-for-26) with two doubles, two homers and 13 RBI during the hitting streak and has raised his batting average from .282 to .385 during that time.
Jordan stays hot
Bryan Jordan continued his hot-hitting at the plate over the weekend. The Cincinnatti native batted .308 (4-for-13) with one double, two home runs and four RBI in four games against North Dakota State.
His two home runs over the weekend gave him a team-leading six on the season and Jordan has hit a home run in three of the team's last seven games.
Record watch: Chris Fuchs
Junior Chris Fuchs
is nearing the top of the charts in career saves at Western Illinois.
Fuchs picked up his first save of the season and fifth of his career ina 7-4 win over Culver Stockton on April 5. The Pembroke Pines, Fla.,
native is currently tied for second in saves in program history with
six other Leathernecks.
He would tie former Leatherneck Nathan
Miller for first place in school history with his next save.
VanBrooker shuts down competition
Junior pitcher Devin VanBrooker shut down the Bison in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. VanBrooker (3-1) picked up his team-leading third victory of the season by allowing just three runs on eight hits in 7.2 innings of work. He walked just one batter and struck out seven.
The Plymouth, Ill., native set a new career and season-high for innings pitched in his start and has recorded 28 strikeouts to just four walks this season.
Up Next
The
Leathernecks resume Summit League action when they play host to IPFW in a four-game series beginning at 3:30 p.m., Friday, April 16.
