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8
Western Illinois WIU 9-17, 5-7 Summit
17
Winner Omaha OMAHA 15-13, 8-4 Summit
Western Illinois WIU
9-17, 5-7 Summit
8
Final
17
Omaha OMAHA
15-13, 8-4 Summit
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 2 0 8 11 6
Omaha OMAHA 3 0 0 0 7 3 0 4 X 17 17 2

W: Williamsen,Z (4-4) L: Church, Preston (1-5)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leatherneck Baseball Drops Series Finale to Mavericks in Omaha

Mark Garton hit his first career home run in the 17-8 loss.

OMAHA, Neb. – A Leatherneck comeback was not meant to be on Sunday (April 5) as Western Illinois fell to Omaha, 17-8, in game three of the weekend series.
 
Junior catcher/first baseman Mark Garton hit his first career home run in the loss. Sunday's game drops Western to 9-17 overall and 5-7 in Summit League play, while Omaha jumps to 15-13 on the season and 8-4 in league play.
 
"It was an offensive day at the ballpark and we didn't give ourselves a chance to the keep the score down with too many free bases," said head coach Ryan Brownlee after the loss. "Our focus on Sundays has to get better if we want to compete for a championship. We are almost to the turn with our conference schedule and the team that makes the best adjustments the second go-around will be the one that ends up on top."
 
Western fell behind early as the Mavericks plated three runs in the bottom of the first. However, the Leathernecks cut the Omaha lead to one in the top of the third.
 
Colton Pogue hit a leadoff double to open the inning marking his fourth-consecutive game with an extra-base hit. Garton moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Brent Turner poked a single through the right side to get Western on the scoreboard. Turner added a run to his RBI as he hustled from first to home on a Roman Visintine double.
 
The fourth inning was uneventful, but disaster would strike for the Purple and Gold in the bottom of the fifth. Omaha distanced itself from Western, using seven hits and two Leatherneck errors to score seven runs.
 
Despite the eight-run deficit, WIU continued to battle. In the top of the sixth, JJ Reimer drove in Visintine, and Adam McGinnis hit a two-out single to score Payton Jeffers. Unfortunately for Western, the Mavericks responded with three more runs in the bottom half to make it 13-4.
 
In the seventh, Turner took a ball to the body and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with Jeffers and Visintine on first and second. Jake Moore stepped in and swatted a two-RBI single, trimming the Omaha lead to seven.
 
Western carried its momentum into the eighth as McGinnis reached base with no outs on a UNO error. Garton chose that moment to swat a ball over the left-field fence for the first home run of his career. 
 
However, four more runs for Omaha in the bottom of the eighth put the game out of reach.
 
Preston Church was saddled with the loss as the sophomore surrendered five runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. On the day, five Western pitchers contributed in the effort.
 
Visintine, McGinnis, and Pogue all collected doubles while Reimer and Turner added two hits of their own. Turner and Visintine also scored twice while Moore led the team with two RBIs. The Leathernecks combined for 11 hits and three walks on the day.
 
Western baseball stays on the road for its next action against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Tuesday (April 7) at 6 p.m. Live audio for the game will be available at GoLeathernecks.com/watch.
 
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