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Western Illinois University Athletics

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10
SIU-Edwardsville SIUE 15-22
14
Winner Western Illinois WIU 14-26
SIU-Edwardsville SIUE
15-22
10
Final
14
Western Illinois WIU
14-26
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
SIU-Edwardsville SIUE 0 2 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 10 11 3
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 4 1 3 0 3 3 X 14 13 3

W: Church, Preston (2-6) L: AGNITSCH, Ryan (2-1) S: Smith, Nick (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Battle Back to Beat Cougars

Western came from behind to defeat SIU-Edwardsville, 14-10, on Wednesday (April 29).

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois baseball overcame deficits of three runs and four runs in a 14-10 comeback win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Wednesday (April 29) in Macomb. The Leathernecks are now winners of two straight, and four out of their last five games.

Adam McGinnis had a an impressive performance, going 4-for-4 with one run and four RBIs. Chris Tschida continued his hot streak with a pair of hits and two runs scored, helping WIU improve to 14-26 on the season. SIU-Edwardsville falls to 15-22.

"That was a game, earlier in the year, that we wouldn't have been able to win," said head coach Ryan Brownlee after the win. "Guys have done a much better job with their approaches, and when you have a good approach at the plate you force the pitcher to give you good pitches to hit. The energy in our dugout has been tremendous. Since Bradley, last week, our dugout has been really good as far as getting some energy going. We have to have that. That's the way we have to play. We weren't locked in the way we needed to be early in the game, but we found a way to get back into it."

The first inning of Wednesday's game took less than five minutes and required only 15 pitches. It was, by far, the quickest inning of the evening as the Cougars scored two in the second and two more in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

Western would not trail for long, making up the deficit in just half an inning. McGinnis opened the bottom of the fourth with a single past third base and Roman Visintine added another hit to put runners on first and third with no outs. The Leathernecks loaded the bases after Kendall King was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice fly from Brent Turner scored McGinnis, who showed his agility as he dodged a tag at the plate. A single from Colton Pogue, a pair of ground balls and a SIUE error evened the score at four.

The tie was short lived as Edwardsville tallied two more runs in the top of four, but a ground-ball RBI from King in the bottom of the inning scored Mark Garton to make it a one-run game.

SIUE continued its streak of two-run innings, extending the lead in the top of five, but the Purple and Gold would battle back again with three runs in the bottom half. Back-to-back hit batters, a Cougar error and a single from McGinnis accounted for the scoring to tie the game at eight.

A one-run seventh inning for Edwardsville marked the fifth lead change of the game, but the bottom half would prove to be the turning point of the night.

JJ Reimer would lead off with a walk before catcher's interference put Tschida on first with nobody out. Garton worked the count full before driving the ball to righ-center field for a RBI-single, his first hit of the game to tie the score at nine. Western then took the lead on a sacrifice fly from McGinnis, scoring Tschida, and single from King would score Garton to give the Leathernecks a two-run advantage.

"Up and down the lineup we had guys who contributed. We executed very well," said coach Brownlee. "We did a good job of moving the ball with a runner on third base and less than two outs, and we scored some guys on ground balls. We did a good job of base running and our pitchers did enough. Obviously you only have to score one more run than the other team, and when it's your fifth game you have to anticipate scoring some runs." 

The Cougars kept it close with a run in the eighth, but hits from Reimer, Tschida, and McGinnis in the bottom of the inning helped add three runs of insurance for WIU. SIUE threatened in the ninth with two runners on base and the tying run on deck, but Nick Smith would come on and force a ground-ball doubleplay for his first save of the season, and second of his career.

In addition to multi-hit efforts from McGinnis and Tschida, King went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Garton added three runs and two RBIs on one hit as well. A total of eight Leatherneck batters combined for 13 hits, but none for extra bases in the win . Western has now tallied 10 hits, or more, in four of its last five games. Also, McGinnis stole his 11th base of the season and Turner extended his streak to 11 games of reaching base safely.

Preston Church earned his second win of the season in two innings of relief with three strikeouts. The Purple and Gold a total of nine pitchers to earn the victory.

Western returns to Summit League play this weekend with a three-game series against South Dakota State in Brookings, South Dakota. The first game between the Leathernecks and Jackrabbits is scheduled for Friday (May 1) at 3 p.m. with games at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (May 2-3).

As previously released, live audio will not be available due to facilities availability. Fans can follow along on Twitter at @WIU_Baseball, or watch the live scoring at GoLeathernecks.com.   
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