MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois Baseball staged a late inning rally to take game one of a doubleheader against Southern Utah 12-11, but fell in the nightcap 8-5 on Saturday afternoon (May 15) at Boyer Stadium . The Fighting Leathernecks ended a 10-game Summit League losing streak, now 11-34 overall and 3-16 in the conference.
Game 1: WIU 12, SUU 11 (10 innings)
Cole Waddell drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th as Western rallied to defeat Southern Utah (18-31, 11-11).
Rich Mascheri blooped a one-out single to start the rally off Kelsey Outram. Jason Summers walked to bring in a new pitcher, Levi Swenson. John Koszulinski reached on an infield single to load the bases. Waddell worked the count full before drawing ball four for the walk-off win.
Western had to rally late to send the game into extra innings. Waddell drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, then advanced to second on Jared Depenbrock's sacrifice bunt. Anthony Kaskadden walked to put two runners on base. Two batters later Outram uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Waddell to go to third. Kaskadden went on a delayed move to second. SUU catcher Joe Goldenberg threw down late, and his throw bounced into the outfield allowing Waddell to score the tying run.
The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Western responded in its half. Bryan Jordan walked then advanced to third on Mascheri's double. Summers lined a RBI single, then Koszulinski drilled a 3-run homer. Andrew Hagins was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. He scored on Kaskadden's groundout for a 5-3 lead.
Summers added a RBI single in the second then Koszulinski scored in the third when Hagins reached on an infield single, then the throwing error made it 7-4.
Depenbrock, who entered the game for Hagins, lined a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth. The Leathernecks extended their lead to 10-5 when Koszulinski ripped a 2-run single up the middle for his fifth RBI of the game.
Southern Utah scored three runs in the seventh then took the lead with three more in the eighth. The Thunderbirds took advantage of four hit batters, a walk and two wild pitches for the six runs. Carlos Pinedo (2-2) entered the game in the eighth and blanked the Thunderbirds over the final 2.2 innings, striking out three.
Chris Macek gave up five runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. He walked five and struck out three.
Koszulinski finished 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored. Summers went 3-for-4 with two runs driven in. Mascheri recorded two hits, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. Depenbrock also tallied two hits as Western out-hit SUU 15-7.
Outram (2-3) was charged for two runs on four hits in 3.2 innings. He walked four and struck out four. Swenson had two hits while Matt Sanford scored four runs.
Game 2: SUU 8, WIU 5
The Thunderbirds scored five runs over the final two innings to pull away for the win. Western tied the game at 1-all in the second innings thanks to Lilja's RBI single. Western went ahead on Waddell's sacrifice fly in the third then scored twice in the fourth on a passed ball and run-scoring single from Summers.
SUU scored a run in the first, fourth and fifth inning to make it 4-3. The Thunderbirds scored three times in the sixth, thanks to a passed ball and 2-run double by Marcus Romero. Mitchell Kauweloa lined a RBI double then Tyler Hogge lifted a sacrifice fly for the final margin.
Austin Brough (1-3) pitched a season-high 5.2 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits. He walked two and fanned five.
Summers and Kaskadden finished with two hits apiece as the Leathernecks out-hit SUU 9-8. Mascheri drew two walks but finished 0-for-2, ending his 15-game hitting streak.
Kyle Melling (5-2) was charged for four runs on eight hits in five innings. Swenson worked the final two innings for his first save of the year.
Sunday's series finale has been moved up to an 11 a.m. first pitch. Western's seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
