LAST TIME OUT: On Tuesday, March 17 Western Illinois traveled to Wichita, Kansas for a midweek doubleheader against the Shockers of Wichita State. The Leathernecks lost game one 13-6 and game two 18-2. In game one WIU scored first for the fourth straight game. A four-run first and five-run fifth for the Shockers kept Western from earning its fourth victory of the year. Freshman RHP Colan Borchers (0-1) was saddled with the loss in his first career start. JJ Reimer led the Purple and Gold offense with three RBI on three hits and one walk. Jake Moore extended his hitting streak to five games and added a run and a RBI. Roman Visintine added two runs on two walks, and Chris Tschida notched his first triple of the year. In game two sophomore lefty Carson Cheesman (0-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season. The Shockers scored four runs in the first and 10 in the sixth on 10 hits and four Leatherneck errors to end the game after seven innings. Moore went 1-3 at the plate to extend his hit streak to a season-high six games. Tschida added another triple to his resume, his second of the season. On the day, Western tallied eight runs on 17 hits and three walks. 

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: South Dakota State comes to Macomb still winless (0-3) in Summit League play and 7-10 overall. The Jackrabbits opened their league schedule last weekend at Omaha, dropping all three games to the Mavericks: 6-4, 7-6, 14-7. SDSU returned to Omaha for a midweek contest against Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series. The Jays topped the Jacks 4-2, extending South Dakota State's skid to four.  At the plate Zach Coppola and Tony Kjolsing lead the SDSU offense. Coppoloa bats .354 with 13 runs, seven RBI and 10 stolen bases. Kjolsing hits .284 with 13 runs and 15 RBI on two home runs and seven doubles. On the mound, Adam Bray leads the team in innings pitched (25.1) and strikeouts (27). The Jackrabbits are coached by fourth-year skipper Dave Schrage. Since being hired in 2011, Schrage led his team to the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and also earned the top seed for the 2014 Summit League Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY: The first meeting between WIU and SDSU came in 2006. Since then, the teams have played a total of 32 times with the Purple and Gold trailing in the series by eight (20-12). On May 23, 2014, Western defeated the top-seeded Jackrabbits in The Summit League Conference Tournament, 5-2. The loss ended SDSU's season and marks the last time the two teams met. 

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE: Junior transfer RHP Joe Mortillaro continues to impress in his first season of competition for Western. Mortillaro debuted as a Leatherneck against Middle Tennessee State on Feb. 22 with just one strikeout in 3.2 innings pitched. The Middle Village, N.Y. native followed up his 2015 premiere with a five inning, nine strikeout outing against No. 10 Oklahoma State on Friday (Feb. 27). He improved his resume this past weekend (March 13) against Fort Wayne. He allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out seven in 7.2 innings of work. The outing lowered his season ERA to 2.11, leading all starters.

BLAZING-HOT BATS: Over the last six games Payton Jeffers, Jake Moore, and Adam McGinnis are hitting .421, .391, and .318, respectively. Over that time, Moore leads the team with a six-game hitting streak  while Jeffers has hit safely in five consecutive games as well. McGinnis notched a six-hit weekend against Fort Wayne.The weekend performance broke the sophomore out of a six-game slump where he failed to hit or reach base safely, and incresed his batting average by over 100 points. 

NATIONAL WATCH LIST: Sophomore catcher Adam McGinnis has been placed on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The honor is given to the top catcher in NCAA Division I baseball. McGinnis joins 74 additional candidates thanks to the nomination of head coach Ryan Brownlee. Semifinalists will be announced May 14 and finalists announced on June 2. The award will be presented on June 25 in Wichita, Kansas. Past award winners include current Major League catchers Buster Posey (Giants) and Kurt Suzuki (Twins).

UP NEXT: The Leathernecks' weekend series at home kicks off an eight-game swing at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. After SDSU, Western plays host to Illinois-Springfield for a midweek tilt on Wednesday, March 25. North Dakota State comes to town for a three-game Summit League set March 27-29. The homestand wraps up with a game against Iowa on April 1. 

BASEBALL IS ON THE AIR: All season long, Western Illinois baseball will be available to follow online at GoLeathernecks.com/watch. Nearly every game at home and on the road will be streamed online available to the public for a small subscription. Home-series will also have video streaming as well. Road-games at Omaha, South Dakota State, and Fort Wayne will not be broadcast due to facilities availability. So far in 2015, each game is averaging 500 views/listens with over 2,000 people attending or taking in the Summit League opening series March 13-15.
 

Tweet #W1U