MACOMB, Ill. - Despite inclement weather, venue changes, and schedule shuffling, Western Illinois baseball is in action for the second straight weekend. The Leathernecks travel to Auburn, Alabama to play two games against Oklahoma State on Friday (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. and Sunday (March 1) at 10 a.m., with one game against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 7 p.m.
The weekend series was originally scheduled as a three-game set against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. However, a foreboding forecast, combined with southern hospitality, allowed the series to be moved to Plainsman Park on the campus of Auburn University where the Tigers were already hosting Jacksonville State.
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS: Oklahoma State comes into the weekend with a mark of 5-3, ranked as high as 7th (USA Today) in the national polls. The Stillwater squad was originally scheduled to host WIU at home, but inclement weather forced the series to move to Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. Following a 3-1 weekend at the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge in Arizona, the Cowboys took on Missouri State in a midweek non-conference tilt, winning 7-2, and extending their win streak to four. After winning the Big 12 Conference title in 2014, OSU returns five starters and 21 letterwinners. Senior Gage Green leads the Cowboys into the weekend batting .387 with two home runs and three stolen bases after a 30 RBI, 20 SB junior season. Senior RHP Jon Perrin, a 2014 All-Big 12 First Teamer, stands atop the rotation with a 1-1 record, 3.68 ERA and six K's. OSU is led by third-year head coach Josh Holliday. Holliday and his staff carry a total of 12 College World Series appearances as players and coaches. The skipper graduated from OSU in 2004 and returned to the program in 2012-13 after assisting at Vanderbilt for three years. Â
SERIES HISTORY: The Leatherneck-Cowboy rivalry will pass the quarter-century mark this weekend with the 26th and 27th all-time meeting between the two programs. OSU holds a commanding 23-2 lead in the series. The last games played were March 16-17, 2010 in Stillwater. The Cowboys took both games 19-7 and 6-3.Â
A LOOK AT JACKSONVILLE STATE: The Gamecocks come into Auburn originally scheduled to play three with the Tigers, but with the schedule changes, will play Auburn twice and face Western on Saturday. JSU opened the season with a 3-0 series sweep of Youngstown State at home before weather conditions took a two-game series against Alabama-Birmingham. Last weekend, the Gamecocks dropped two of three to nationally-ranked Kennesaw State, winning the final game 11-4. Senior first baseman Tyler Gamble's bat leads JSU with a .471 average through six games and 10 RBI. On the mound senior lefty Tony Urban has pitched 10.1 innings in two starts with a 1.74 ERA and eight K's. Jacksonville State is coached by 14th-year head coach Jim Case. All 14 of Case's seasons have been with JSU with the skipper accumulating six Ohio Valley Conference championships and 425 wins.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's single game will mark the first time Western and Jacksonville State have met in program history.
LAST TIME OUT: Last weekend the Leathernecks traveled to Murfreesboro, Tenn. planning to play three games against three teams in the 2015 Mule Mix Classic. Due to a winter storm front that blanketed the south, Western's games against Lipscomb and Belmont were canceled leading to a Sunday doubleheader against Middle Tennessee State to open the season. The 2015 season opener for WIU was a slugfest with MTSU taking the decision, 16-14. The Blue Raiders would hold the Purple and Gold scoreless through three innings while hitting up WIU starter Tom Constand for eight runs (six earned) over the same stretch. A two-run fourth inning followed by a five-run fifth would spark a Leatherneck rally over the final five innings, eventually coming up short. Senior (C/1B) JJ Reimer hit his first home run of the year and third of his career, a three-run shot in the top of the fifth. Game two of the doubleheader featured less offense. Neither team scored until the third inning when Western scored two in the top and MTSU scored three in the bottom. J.T. Baksha's 4.1 IP and seven K's in relief would not be enough as the Leathernecks fell 5-4. On Monday, the Blue Raiders took game three in convincing fashion, 19-2. Adam McGinnis's two-run home run was the lone bright spot for WIU. MTSU scored five in the first, eight in the fifth and five in the seventh to pull away.Â
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