MACOMB, Ill. -Â Western Illinois baseball is headed west to open its the road portion of its Summit League road schedule the weekend (April 3-5) against Omaha. Game one is set for a 1 p.m. start on Friday (April 3) with games two and three set for 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at The Ballpark at Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Leathernecks will look to carry momentum from their midweek victory over No. 24 Iowa into the weekend. Due to the facilities available, live audio will not be available for the weekend series.
LAST TIME OUT: In its last outing, Western Illinois toppled 24th-ranked Iowa in Macomb, 16-5 on Wednesday, April 1... Iowa came to Alfred D. Boyer Stadium fresh off of a series sweep over Indiana and a perfect start to Big Ten Conference play... The Hawkeyes built an early 5-0 lead through four and a half innings including a two-run home run in the fourth... In the bottom of the fifth, the Leathernecks scored one with no outs and then manufactured a six-run two-out rally to take a 7-5 lead... Adam McGinnis homered in the sixth to help the Purple and Gold add five more runs... WIU's pitching held the Hawkeyes scoreless for the sixth, seventh and eighth innings... Colton Pogue's first career grand slam in the bottom of the eighth ended the game early... Pogue finished his day with two doubles, a home run and six RBI, the most in a game for a Western player since 2010... Colan Borchers earned the first win of his career... All Leathernecks who appeared at the plate reached base safely at least once... As a team the Purple and Gold collected their 16 runs on 13 hits, seven walks, and two Hawkeye errors... Wednesday's victory marks WIU's first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 1 Arkansas on February 17, 2013.Â
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Omaha at 13-12, 6-3 is currently ranked second in The Summit League... UNO faced no. 18 on Wednesday April 1 and fell 3-2 in 10 innings... Prior to the midweek tilt Omaha traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma (March 27-29) and was swept by Oral Roberts... The Mavericks are led by 16th-year head coach Bob Herold... Before Omaha transitioned to NCAA Division I, Herold guided the Mavs to their first NCAA Division II College World Series appearance in 2007... On the mound senior RHP Zach Williamsen leads UNO with a record of 3-4, holding a 3.63 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 39.2 innings of work... At the plate, Alex Mortensen and Alex Schultz lead Omaha... Mortensen bats .293 and leads the team with 24 RBI... Schultz bats .337 with 21 runs, 11 RBI and eight stolen bases... The Mavericks are in their final year of transition to NCAA Division I and thus, are still ineligible for post-season play, including The Summit League Tournament.   SERIES HISTORY: Since UNO's arrival in The Summit League, the Leathernecks and Mavericks have faced each other a total of 12 times... Omaha leads the series 11-1... The Leathernecks were swept at Alfred D. Boyer stadium in 2014... WIU's lone win over UNO came on April 6, 2014 in a 2-0 game two of a Sunday doubleheader.  UP NEXT: After its weekend series in Nebraska, Western will turnaround and travel to Edwardsville, Illinois for a midweek game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville... The Leathernecks then return home for a three-game set against Oral Roberts April 10-12. FRESHMAN PHENOM: Colton Pogue's offensive outburst against No. 24 Iowa on April 1 puts the freshman second baseman in the Western record books... The Blue Springs, Mo. native's six RBI ties him for third for most RBI in a game in Western history.. Pogue's eighth-inning grand slam is also the first one in just under a year, since Adam McGinnis against Fort Wayne on April 13, 2014. ALUMNI WEEKEND: April 10-12 is set as 2015's Western Illinois baseball Alumni weekend... The event will be highlighted by a three-game series against Summit League-leading Oral Roberts... Alumni in attendance will be honored before Saturday's game at noon... A variety of activities and socials will be available throughout the weekend... WIU track and field and softball will also be at home the same weekend, giving fans plenty to see and do. PURPLE AND GOLD HITTING STREAKS: So far this season, Payton Jeffers, Chris Tschida, and Jake Moore have all posted career-high hitting streaks of nine, and seven games, respectively... Moore's streak is currently active at seven and Tschida has also reached base safely in the last 15 games. |
