MACOMB, Ill. -Â Leatherneck baseball returns home from a seven-game roadtrip for a pair of midweek matchups against St. Ambrose and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville this Tuesday (April 28) and Wednesday (April 29) at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium.
Western plans to carry momentum from its first series win at North Dakota State in program history into the two contests. Jake Moore and Colton Pogue will both look to stay hot at the plate after batting over .500 on the weekend.
LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois took a five-day road trip starting last Wednesday (April 22) in Peoria, Illinois and ending on Sunday (April 26) in Fargo, North Dakota... The Leathernecks played Bradley University to open the trip, losing 4-0... WIU then traveled north for a three-game series against North Dakota State... Western took the series opener, 6-4, as Tyler Owings earned his fifth save of the season and Joe Mortillaro earned his third win... In game two, the Leathernecks scored seven runs on 10 hits and four Bison errors to win 7-2... The victory marks WIU's first series victory in Fargo in program history... On Sunday (April 26) the Purple and Gold came up short, 9-4, against the Bison. Western's two wins mark its second series victory of the season after taking the home matchup against NDSU earlier this season... Colton Pogue collected five hits, including a pair of doubles on the weekend... Jake Moore batted .500 with seven hits, a run scored, and three RBIs... Chris Tschida and Adam McGinnis each stole two bases and McGinnis hit his third home run of the season in game two... As a team, the Leathernecks collected 34 hits, including six for extra bases, and batted .321.
SCOUTING THE BEES: St. Ambrose comes into Macomb with an overall record of 22-19, having won eight out of its last nine games as of Sunday, April 26... Due to games postponed by weather, SAU plays a tripleheader against William Penn University on Monday (April 27)... The Bees lost to the Statesmen, 4-3, on Sunday (April 26) in Davenport, Iowa... Head coach, Jim Callahan is in his 20th year as skipper of the Bees... He has collected over 400 wins and led SAU to the NAIA College World Series... At the plate, St. Ambrose is led by Brinn Bell and Matt Rosenberger... Bell leads the team with seven home runs and 36 runs on the season... He bats .375 with 48 hits... Rosenberger sits second on the team with five home runs, and leads with 35 RBIs, batting .380... SAU's pitching staff is led by Anthony Gagliardi who is 5-3 in 10 starts and 61.1 innings pitched... Gagliardi boasts a 1.32 ERA with 39 strikeouts.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks lead the all-time series with St. Ambrose by a margin of 20-4-2... WIU and SAU last met on April 30, 2014 in Macomb... Western won the game 18-5.
A LOOK AT SIU-EDWARDSVILLE: The Cougars roll into Macomb following a series sweep over Ohio Valley Conference-foe UT-Martin... SIU-E is 15-21 on the season while holding a 15-9 record in conference play... The Cougars are led by third-year head coach Tony Stoecklin... In 2014, Stoecklin guided SIUe to its first OVC Tournament bid... At the plate Parker Guinn leads the team with eight home runs... He also has 27 RBIs... On the mound, P.J. Schuster leads the Cougars with a 4-3 record in six starts... Schuster's season ERA sits at 6.08, and he has 45 strikeouts.
SERIES HISTORY: Western and Edwardsville were originally scheduled to play earlier this season but the game was canceled due to rain... Wednesday's game marks the first time that WIU and SIUe have met since 1998... Prior to that meeting the two teams had met a total of 70 times... Western lost the last meeting 7-5... The game was held in Edwardsville, Illinois.Â
UP NEXT: After the pair of midweek matchups, Western travels to Brookings, South Dakota for a weekend Summit League series (May 1-3) with South Dakota State... The Leathernecks then head to Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday (May 6) for a rematch with the nationally-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. |
