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Western Illinois University Athletics

Preston Church.jpg
0
Western Illinois WIU 1-8
10
Winner Evansville UE 6-4
Western Illinois WIU
1-8
0
Final
10
Evansville UE
6-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5
Evansville UE 6 2 1 0 1 0 X 10 9 0

W: Harkness (2-0) L: Smith, Nick (0-1)

3
Winner Western Illinois WIU 2-8
0
Evansville UE 6-5
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
2-8
3
Final
0
Evansville UE
6-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 2
Evansville UE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0

W: Church, Preston (1-2) L: Schnieders (1-1) S: Owings, Tyler (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Eight-Inning Gem from Preston Church Highlights Series Split in Georgia

Church pitched eight complete and notched eight strikeouts to help WIU go 2-2 against Evansville.

EMERSON, Ga. - Western baseball moved to 2-8 this season thanks to an eight-inning gem from sophomore lefty Preston Church against Evansville in the series finale on Saturday (Mar. 7) in Emerson, Georgia. 

Earlier in the day WIU lost to UE 10-0 in seven innings, but a career-high eight strikeouts over eight scoreless innings of work from Church earned the Leathernecks a series split with the Purple Aces. Tyler Owings came in to earn his first save of the season and seventh of his career.

"To put it bluntly, we were horrendous in the first game," said head coach Ryan Brownlee. "However, the sign of a tough team is that they bounce back. I am very happy with Preston (Church). He put our team on his back and wouldn't allow our mistakes to affect the outcome. He had a couple of free bases in the fourth, but then went back to attacking and never let UE get any momentum."

Game one of the day was a forgettable seven-inning affair as Evansville scored six in the first, two in second, one in the third and another run in the fifth. The UE performance was highlighted by a home run from designated hitter Max Foley. 

"We don't need to play over our heads to be a good team," said coach Brownlee of the loss. "We just need to play solid baseball. We never gave ourselves a chance in the game."

In his first start of the season Nick Smith struggled. The senior went four innings, allowing 10 runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walks with just four strikeouts as the Leathernecks committed five errors in the contest. Colan Borchers came in for two innings of scoreless relief, giving up just one hit and tallying two strikeouts. 

Hits from Colton Pogue, Chris Tschida, and Mark Garton highlighted the Purple and Gold offensive efforts in a combined shutout by the Evansville pitching staff.

Game two would prove to be a much different story.

Church would start out the game by catching two Purple Aces looking in the bottom of the first, and striking out a third (looking) in the bottom of the second. Two double plays from the Leatherneck infield helped hold Evansville scoreless through the first three innings of play.

Western's bats would strike in the top of the fourth inning. A leadoff walk from JJ Reimer set the table for a Tschida RBI double to left-center field. Jake Moore would join the party with a two-bagger of his own, scoring Tschida, and putting the Leathernecks up 2-0.

Returning to the mound with a lead, Church would not look back. Despite walking the first two batters in the bottom of the fourth, the sophomore from Ogden, Iowa would work the next three batters for a fly-out, pop-out and ground-out to hold the shutout.

Both sides went quietly in the fifth as the Purple and Gold hurler snagged another strikeout, and the Leathernecks would threaten in the sixth, but fail to score after UE walked the bases full. 

In the top of the seventh, Payton Jeffers would walk and then steal second base. Tschida then added his second double of the game to drive in Jeffers and make the score 3-0.   

Innings seven, eight, and nine came and went and no runners would cross the plate for either team. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the senior closer Owings took the mound. The submarine hurler struck out the leadoff batter for UE before drawing a ground-ball double-play to end the game and earn his first save of the season.

"I was hard on Preston last year because of how good he can be," said Brownlee. "To his credit he never got down on himself and kept working. He is one of the hardest working players in our program and the sky is the limit for him."

At the plate Jeffers led Western, collecting three hits, a walk, and a run scored in four at-bats. Tschida added two hits, two RBI, and a run scored while a hit, walk, and RBI from Moore rounded out the Leatherneck offense.

The combined shutout from Church and Owings is the first shutout for WIU this season and the first time the Purple and Gold has held a team scoreless since April 12, 2014 against Fort Wayne.

The Leathernecks take the field next in their 2015 Summit League and season home opener in a three-game series against Fort Wayne starting on Friday (Mar. 13). Weather and field conditions may move the series to Jacksonville, Illinois. Fans can check GoLeathernecks.com throughout the week for more updates.
 
 
 
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