MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois (18-31, 10-11) baseball has been riding high of late with two straight series victories. The Gents (10-26, 7-13) of Centenary College rolled into Macomb, Ill. with thoughts of dashing the Leathernecks hopes of tournament play. The visitors put a wrench in those plans on Friday afternoon as a big fourth inning powered an 8-6 victory for the Gents.
Dan Russell (6-5) toed the rubber for the Purple & Gold and went the distance but allowed six earned runs on 11 hits and collected five punch outs. The nine innings is a career-high and it is Russell's third complete game of the 2011 campaign.
The first three innings of the Summit League battle were all zeros before Centenary strung together five hits to plate six in the fourth inning. In addition, a Leatherneck error contributed to the crooked number placed on the board by the gents.
Bryan Jordan started the bottom of the fourth with a triple to right center field to attempt to stage a rally. Anthony Kaskadden sent a single up the middle to score Jordan from third. After four complete, Centenary held onto a 6-1 advantage.
The Gents' starter Nic Parrott (2-2) continued to keep the Leathernecks off balance in the middle innings.
Centenary added a run in the sixth on a Pete Rajkovich single through the left side to stretch the lead to 7-1.
Ryan Cowhey drew a walk to start the seventh and advanced to second on a throwing error charged to the Gents' catcher. Kaskadden also drew a walk before Chris Giglio advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Dan Dispensa sent a grounder to the shortstop to drive in a run on the ground out.
Western's big rally came in the bottom of the eighth as three hits and a Centenary error led to four Leatherneck runs. Matt Igara tucked a single just inside the first base bag for a lead off single. John Koszulinski walked and the Gents' skipper Mike Diaz pulled his starter for Kelby Langston. Langston hit Tom Lilja and Jordan continued his impressive offensive production with a single through the left side for two RBI. Kaskadden sent a laser into right center for a double for two more runs. Another pitching change was made and Seth Lugo was summoned from the bullpen to settle the Leatherneck comeback attempt. Lugo was successful in stemming the tide as he recorded the final two outs to escape the inning with the lead intact. Centenary clung onto a 7-6 lead as the game moved into the final frame.
Russell seemed to settle down in the final three innings as he retired nine straight until a Kyle Morton home run broke the streak. The insurance run would be more than enough as the Gents struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to clinch its 10th victory this season.
Igara and Jordan both turned in two hit performances and Jordan added two RBI to his line. Kaskadden drove in three runs in his perfect 3-for-3 performance. Dispensa drove in a run and drew a walk on the afternoon.
Parrott went seven innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits while walking five Leathernecks. Kelby Langston lasted just 0.1 of an inning and gave up two earned runs before Lugo entered to earn his second save with 1.2 innings of work while not allowing a hit and setting down the final three Leathernecks via the backwards k.
Four Gents' hitters collected two hits and eight of the nine Centenary hitters drove in a run.
The two teams will resume the series with a doubleheader on Saturday with game one scheduled for noon. There will be no broadcast for the two games but be sure to follow live stats at GoLeathernecks.com and tune in Sunday at noon for the broadcast as Western Illinois celebrates senior day.
