MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois senior left-hander Tyler Owings tied the program's career record for saves with his ninth as he and the Leathernecks defeated North Dakota State 3-1 in Summit League play on Saturday afternoon (March 28) at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium.

The Bison, shutout 1-0 in game one of the series, threatened quickly in the top of the first inning. Western starter Tom Constand walked the leadoff batter, then with one out wound up walking the bases loaded. He got a foul out to first base and a fly ball to right field to work around the threat.

Payton Jeffers drew a one-out walk in Western's half of the first. Consecutive singles from Jake Moore and Chris Tschida loaded the bases. JJ Reimer delivered a two-run double as Western (7-14 overall, 4-4 Summit League) wound up getting all the run support it would need in the first frame.

NDSU (5-16, 1-7) got a run back in the second thanks to a two-out RBI single from Drew Fearing. Constand struck out Paul Funk to end the threat. In the third, Reimer threw out a Bison runner trying to steal second, which ended that inning.

An insurance run was added in the fourth inning for Western. Reimer lined a leadoff single. Adam McGinnis sacrificed Reimer into scoring position, and freshman Colton Pogue delivered a RBI single.

NDSU chased Constand in the sixth inning after two singles put runners at first and second with one out. Head coach Ryan Brownlee brought in Nick Milligan in relief. The senior walked the bases loaded, but put a zero on the scoreboard thanks to an infield pop up and strikeout.

During the seventh, NDSU threatened again, putting two runners on with one out. However, Milligan picked up another strikeout and groundout to end the frame. He walked the first Bison batter in the eighth but picked up a pair of strikeouts for two outs. A walk forced Brownlee to bring in Owings. He fanned David Ernst on a called third strike to end that inning.

In the ninth, NDSU put the tying run at first base with two down following a hit batter and single, but Owings forced another groundout to secure the victory.

"Our body language has gotten much better on the mound… The amount of adversity you face in baseball you have to have good body language. If you don't, it'll eat you up. We're doing a much better job of controlling the things we can control," said Brownlee. "We've gone through this every year, when we finally start to figure that part out we started playing much better. I'm happy for our guys, we are starting to figure those things out."

Constand picked up his first win of the season (1-4) allowing one run on four hits in 5.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Milligan tied a career-high five strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Owings allowed just one hit in 1.1 innings to earn his second save of the series, and third this season.

Reimer went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Tschida also added two hits as Western held a 7-5 edge in hits and both teams did not commit an error. Brent Turner and Reimer accounted for the two extra-base hits in the game, both doubles.

"I've said it time and again the games against North Dakota State are always really close. The only game that wasn't close was the championship game in the Summit League Tournament. Every other game has been right there," said Brownlee. "I told our guys last weekend if we start playing better defense we will start to win series or sweep series, and we've played better defense."

Reed Pfannenstein (0-3) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four.

The victory clinches the weekend series win for Western, and the Leathernecks will go for the three-game sweep Sunday afternoon (March 29). First pitch is scheduled for 12 noon.

 

Tweet #W1U