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Western Illinois University Athletics

MBA_NDSU3_Road_FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
3
Western Illinois WIU 17-33, 10-20 Summit
11
Winner Oral Roberts ORU 38-14, 25-5 Summit
Western Illinois WIU
17-33, 10-20 Summit
3
Final
11
Oral Roberts ORU
38-14, 25-5 Summit
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 8 2
Oral Roberts ORU 3 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 X 11 14 1

W: Phillip Wilson (1-0) L: Mortillaro, Joe (3-5)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Baseball Sees Season Come to an End in Tulsa

Leathernecks fall shy of Summit League Tournament berth following 11-3 loss

TULSA, Okla. – Western Illinois saw the 2015 baseball season come to a close on Saturday (May 16) following an 11-3 loss at regular season champion Oral Roberts. The Fighting Leathernecks ended the year 17-33 overall and 10-20 in the Summit League.
 
"Just like when people focus on the end of a 9-inning game and not the whole game, you have to look at your season as a whole. We didn't play well enough in the first half of conference to earn a spot in the tourney. Each and every pitch of every game is important and needs to be approached that way," said head coach Ryan Brownlee. "You go through this every year as a coach with the season ending. You hurt for your seniors because you know it is their last opportunity to put a college uniform on. You understand about how much they will miss being a part of something special, which is a college baseball team.
 
"I am very proud of this group of seniors. They turned a corner for our program a month ago. My senior year at Evansville didn't finish the way we wanted but that group of freshmen won the MVC and played in a regional," said Brownlee. "This whole year was a great learning process for our program. Being a good baseball player and program is a 12-month deal. There are always improvements to be made as an individual and as a program. The process is on going and starts over for our coaches immediately with summer recruiting. In the end there will only be one satisfied team and that will be who holds up the National Championship trophy at the end of June."
 
The four-team Summit League tournament starts this coming week in Sioux Falls. Last year Western was eliminated in the tournament championship game. Heading into Saturday's regular season final game, Western either needed a win or a loss by North Dakota State (Bison 5-4 win in 12 innings over Omaha) to qualify but came up short.
 
Colton Pogue reached on a one-out error in the first inning. After Chris Tschida singled then stole second, Western had two runners in scoring position with two outs but could not capitalize. ORU (38-14, 25-5) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off starter Joe Mortillaro with three hits and an error
 
The lead grew to 6-0 after the second following a RBI single and 2-run homer. Western got on the board in the third inning. Pogue delivered a one-out single then scored on Tschida's RBI double to make it 6-1.
 
The Leathernecks cut the deficit in half in the sixth. Adam McGinnis launched a solo homer then later in the inning Erik Maki delivered a RBI single scoring Roman Visintine for a 6-3 score. ORU got those two runs back in its half of the frame on two hits and an error.
 
WIU threatened in the eighth when McGinnis and Visintine walked with one out but could not capitalize. In the ninth, senior Brent Turner led off with a single then Pogue followed with a walk. Three batters later Mark Garton walked to load the bases but a groundout ended the scoring threat.
 
Tschida and McGinnis recorded two hits each to lead Western. Turner, Pogue, Visintine and Maki accounted for the remainder of the eight hits.
 
Mortillaro (3-5) was charged for five runs (three earned) on four hits in 1.2 innings. He walked two and struck out two. J.T. Baksha gave up a run in two innings, and senior Tyler Owings was charged for two unearned runs in two innings. Western had seven pitchers in all during the game.
 
Starter Phillip Wilson (1-0) earned the win for ORU allowing one run on four hits in three innings. Anthony Sequeira went 4-for-5 with a double and home run.
 
 
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