Game 1: Louisville 8, Western Illinois 0

The opening game saw Louisville grab the early lead and keep the Leathernecks off the scoreboard in the eight-run victory. The Cardinals out-hit WIU 9-5 in the game and capitalized on three Leatherneck errors in the win.

True-freshman Preston Church (0-1) made his first career start in the game, throwing a season-best 4.0 innings with two strikeouts and four earned runs allowed. Nick Bakeris followed on the mound, throwing a career-high 3.2 innings, while Nick Milligan threw the final third of an inning for WIU.

Louisville went on top 1-0 in the second inning after Zach Lucas drew a walk and scored on an infield single. The Cardinals then added three more runs on four hits in the third inning to go on top 4-0.

In the fourth Tanner Glore and Brent Turner each recorded singles and advanced in to scoring position but were left on base to end the inning.

UL scored once more in both the fourth and fifth innings to take the 6-0 lead. After a scoreless sixth and seventh, WIU notched two more hits in the eighth, however the Cardinals again made it out of the inning again after a Leatherneck fly out.

The Cardinals put their final two runs across in the bottom half of the eighth to take the eight run lead which would be the final.

Game 2: Louisville 5, Western Illinois 2

Louisville jumped out to an early three run lead in game two of the doubleheader, which proved to be the difference maker in the game. The Leathernecks out-hit the Cardinals 7-6 during the nine-inning contest.

Glore and Adam McGinnis each recorded two hits and one run in the game, while McGinnis also added his third RBI of the season.

In the first Louisville recorded a triple and a double with two outs to take the three run lead. Jeff Gardner hit the triple down the first base line, while Danny Rosenbaum's double down the third base line drove in a pair.

Neither team put a run across in the second or third before Western was able to put a pair of runs across in the fourth to make it a one run game. Glore led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a throwing error moved Glore to third, the senior scored on a McGinnis single. McGinnis later scored on a Nathan Pollock sacrifice fly.

Louisville scored twice more in the fifth however to extend their lead to 5-2, which held for the rest of the game. In the inning the Cardinals were able to put two on after a walk and hit batter. After a successful double-steal, both runners scored on a Gardner two RBI single.

On the mound WIU threw four pitchers with true-freshman Carson Cheesman (0-1) making his first career start. The lefty threw 2.1 innings with one strikeout and three UL runs allowed. Tyler Owings, Mason Pingel and Riley Perry also threw and combined to strikeout six Cardinals.

“We were not out of place today. It was a good measuring stick for our program,” said head coach Ryan Brownlee. “We are very close to bursting out offensively. Our offensive approach was very good in the second game; we hit a lot of balls hard. We are a lot closer on defined roles for our hitters and pitchers. I thought Preston and Carson competed well for their first starts. This weekend will be another good one for us to see the improvements we are making.”

Western will now have two days off before heading to Normal, Ill. for a three-game series against Illinois State. Game one is set for Friday (Mar. 14) with the final two games scheduled for the next day. Due to field conditions not being ready at ISU's stadium, all three games will take place at the 'Corn Crib' in Normal.