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Leatherneck Baseball to Play Three in Alabama

 

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois baseball (1-3) will hit the road this weekend for three games in Huntsville, Ala. as part of the Bulldog Classic hosted by Alabama A&M. The Leathernecks will begin on Friday with Indiana State at noon. On Saturday, Western will play host Alabama A&M and conclude the series on Sunday with Maryland Eastern Shore.

 

The Purple & Gold showed flashes of improvement this past weekend at Georgia State but costly errors and a developing bullpen let two games slip away and allow the Panthers to take three of four. Western did win game one behind a gem from Rich Mascheri who went seven scoreless innings while striking out five.


The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (1-3) vs. Indiana State (0-3)  • at Alabama A&M (2-1) • vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (0-3)
When • Friday, Feb. 24 (12 p.m. CST • Saturday, Feb. 25 (3 p.m. CST) Sunday, Feb. 26 (12 p.m. CST)
Location • Huntsville, Ala. • Joe Davis Stadium (10,200)

 Coverage

Radio • Rocky Vision  (Free)
 Play-by-Play • Patrick Osterman
Live Stats  • AAMUSports.com (Free)
BULLDOG CLASSIC PREVIEW: Western Illinois continues its 16-game road trek to start the 2012 campaign by participating in the Alabama A&M Bulldog Classic... All three games will be played at Joe Davis Stadium, the home of Double-A Huntsville Stars... The Leathernecks will face Indiana State on late Friday morning then the host Bulldogs Saturday afternoon... Western closes out play against Maryland Eastern Shore late Sunday morning... The game against the Missouri Valley Conference-member Sycamores is one of seven this season against the MVC.

CDB/WIU: College Baseball Daily (www.CollegeBaseballDaily.com) has teamed up with the Western Illinois baseball team and will feature a weekly journal with an entry from a Leatherneck player or coach. The site is a great source for college baseball news around the nation and will spotlight the current season for Western with various viewpoints from the players and staff.

WESTERN SWEEPS WEEKLY AWARDS: Western swept the Summit League weekly awards when Dan Dispensa was named 'Player of the Week' and Rich Mascheri was selected 'Co-Pitcher of the Week'... Dispensa hit .583 last weekend (7-of-12) with three doubles, three runs scored and four RBI... Mascheri scattered four hits in 7.0 shutout innings for the Leathernecks, striking out five... It's the first weekly award since Bryan Jordan won the offensive award on March 28, 2011... Mascheri is the first Leatherneck pitcher to bring home the award since John Sneegas on March 23, 2009... It's also the first weekly sweep since March 17, 2008 (Kenny Price - Offensive; Eric Eden - Pitcher).

TRIO WITH THREE HITS IN OPENER: Western wasted no time offensively in the season-opener recording seven runs on 13 hits - all singles... Dan Dispensa and Austin Cowen each had three hits in the 1-2 spots of the batting order. Cowen matched his career-high... Also with three hits was freshman Jameson Henning, who also scored three runs in his first game as a Leatherneck... Danny Marcuzzo also recorded a multi-hit game with two singles and scoring twice.

DOUBLE-DUTY MASCHERI: Senior Rich Mascheri played in all four games last weekend, doing double-duty in the opener. He was the starting pitcher/designated hitter, then was the DH in the nightcap... Mascheri started in left field in the final two games of the series... He started the scoring for Western in the top of the first in game one when he beat out a potential double play ball, which allowed a run to score and he picked up his first RBI of the 2012 season... The senior led the team stealing 4-of-4 bases in the series.

SCOUTING THE SYCAMORES: Indiana State dropped all three games to Southeastern Louisiana (7-2; 3-1; 6-5)... Robby Ort led the hitting attack at a .400 clip and Landon Curry was 3-for-10, but no other starter hit above .200 on the weekend... Ryan Torgerson gave up three unearned runs in his 6.0 innings... Dakota Bacus allowed two runs on six hits in 7.0 innings, fanning four... Sean Manaea  gave up two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. He also fanned four... Manaea faced Western last year and was charged for two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out nine, but he was out-dueled by Dan Russell... Western, having lost the first game of the weekend to ISU, rebounded by scoring four runs in the eighth and ninth inning. The Sycamores scored four runs in the ninth but Western held on for the win.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Alamaba A&M took 2-of-3 from fellow Summit League member IPFW last weekend (8-5; 3-2; 2-11)... Norbert Riggins, Julio Nunez and Walton Ashwander each had three hits in the series... Allen Belue and Josh Freeman both gave up two runs in seven innings of work. Belue fanned six in his abbreviated 7-inning complete game win while Freeman gave up one hit but walked five... The Bulldogs were 8-for-8 in stolen bases, and only used five pitchers on the weekend... Most recently the Bulldogs were blanked at Samford, 19-0 in a contest called after the seventh inning... Brandyn Curtcher accounted for the lone base hit and he drew of the team's five walks... AAMU committed three errors in the loss and twice gave up seven runs in an inning (1st/5th)...

SCOUTING THE HAWKS: Maryland Eastern Shore lost all three games at Gardner-Webb last weekend (11-4; 8-4; 7-0)... UMES plays at Navy on Wednesday before playing in the Bulldog Classic this weekend... Tre-von Johnson led the offense going 6-of-12 with three runs scored at the plate... Four other hitters had three or more hits in the series... UMES went 4-of-5 in stolen bases but gave up 12 steals in 15 attempts defensively and committed 10 errors... Tyler Witte allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits in 5.2 innings... Jordan Bone allowed three runs on three hits in four innings... Jacob Foreman was charged for 10 runs (seven earned) in 2.2 innings, giving up five hits and six walks.

THE VILLANO FACTOR: Since head coach Mike Villano took over the Leatherneck Baseball program less than two months to the start of the 2010 season, Western has made stark improvements... His 14 wins in year one tie for the second-most victories by a first-year head coach in program history. Dick Pawlow had 15 wins in 1970 and Kim Johnson also had 14 wins in 1999... The +7 improvement to the second year was the second-biggest jump in program history (Stan Hyman +13 from 2002 to 2003)... The team ERA was now cut in half, going from 10.0+ in 2009 to last year's 5.03... Villano coached the Purple&Gold to a fourth place finish in the Summit League in 2011 and advanced to the postseason tournament for the first time since 2008.

PRESEASON POLL: When head coach Mike Villano took over two years ago, the Leathernecks were an unanimous pick to finish last. Now heading into his third season in charge, Villano and the Leathernecks were picked to finish second in the 2012 Summit League preseason poll. The poll was voted on by the league's head coaches. Defending champion Oral Roberts received six first-place votes for 36 points. Western was next with 27 points, followed by South Dakota State (25 points) and North Dakota State (21). Southern Utah (19), which received the other first-place vote, Oakland (11) and IPFW (8) rounded out the poll... The top four teams advance to the league tournament, hosted this year by departing league member Oral Roberts.

CATCH THE LEATHERNECKS ALL SEASON LONG VIA THE INTERNET: For the third straight year Western Illinois baseball will be broadcast live on the internet (Rocky Vision) for free. Fans can log onto www.GoLeathernecks.com and click on the icon to Listen Live.

 
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Players Mentioned

Bryan Jordan

#15 Bryan Jordan

OF/IF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Dan Dispensa

#6 Dan Dispensa

OF
6' 0"
Junior
L/R
Austin Cowen

#7 Austin Cowen

IF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Dan Russell

#24 Dan Russell

RHP
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Danny Marcuzzo

#21 Danny Marcuzzo

IF
6' 3"
Senior
R/R
Rich Mascheri

#34 Rich Mascheri

LHP/OF
5' 10"
Senior
L/L
Jameson Henning

#2 Jameson Henning

IF
6' 3"
Redshirt
R/R

Players Mentioned

Bryan Jordan

#15 Bryan Jordan

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
OF/IF
Dan Dispensa

#6 Dan Dispensa

6' 0"
Junior
L/R
OF
Austin Cowen

#7 Austin Cowen

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
IF
Dan Russell

#24 Dan Russell

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Danny Marcuzzo

#21 Danny Marcuzzo

6' 3"
Senior
R/R
IF
Rich Mascheri

#34 Rich Mascheri

5' 10"
Senior
L/L
LHP/OF
Jameson Henning

#2 Jameson Henning

6' 3"
Redshirt
R/R
IF