MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois Baseball returns to the diamond this weekend, facing in-state rival Southern Illinois in a three-game series.
The weekend begins Friday afternoon (Feb. 26) with a 2 p.m. start scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. All games will be played at Richard "Itchy" Jones Stadium in Carbondale.
WEEKEND ROTATION:
Preston Church (Jr/LHP) 0-0, 7.11 ERA vs. Joe Marciano (Jr/LHP) 0-1, 7.36 ERA
Joe Mortillaro (Sr/RHP) 0-1, 7.20 ERA vs. Chad Whitmer (Jr/RHP) 0-0, 1.50 ERA
J.T. Baksha (Soph/LHP) 0-0, 7.36 ERA vs. Michael Baird (Soph/RHP) 0-1, 3.60 ERA
STARTING A NEW STREAK: Sophomore Colton Pogue (Blue Springs, Mo.) carried over an 11-game hitting streak to the 2016 season, and extended it to 13 games following the first two games, but it ended in game three of the Tennessee Tech series… Pogue went 2-for-4 with a double and home run in the opening game of the doubleheader but then went 0-for-2 with a walk in the nightcap.
WELCOME TO DIVISION I BASEBALL: Two Western Illinois true-freshmen made their first collegiate base hit a memorable one… Deion Thompson (Bloomington, Ill.) stepped in during the third inning of game one with a runner on and his team down 4-3. After a strikeout in the second inning, Thompson delivered in the third with a 2-run home run to right field… Later in the game, Nick Schrader (Cambridge, Wis.) entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. With the leadoff runner getting on base, Schrader began a six-run frame with a game-tying 2-run home run in his first collegiate at-bat… Thompson would finish the weekend with two home runs, a .273 batting average and team-leading .909 slugging percentage. Schrader batted .286 with a .375 on-base percentage, 1.000 fielding percentage and .714 slugging.
CHURCH A NEW CAREER-HIGH: Junior Preston Church (Ogden, Iowa) started off the 2016 campaign with a rough first inning but rebounded to strike out a career-high nine Tennessee Tech batters in the no-decision… After allowing a first inning grand slam, Church gave up a leadoff single in the second inning then not another hit until a leadoff single in the seventh… Church left the game with the lead, and three of his seven runs allowed were tallied after he left the game throwing 6.1 innings… Church was tabbed by Baseball America as the Summit League 'Preseason Pitcher of the Year'... Church, who led last year with 73.1 innings and 71 strikeouts, was 11th and fifth in the Summit League, respectively, in each category.
SERIES NOTES FROM TENNESSEE TECH: Western saw six batters and five pitchers make their Leatherneck debut… Chris Tschida (Joliet, Ill.) led the hitting with a .438 clip, tallying a double, triple and home run… Pogue batted .375 on the weekend… Joe Mortillaro (Middle Village, N.Y.) fanned five batters in five innings and J.T. Baksha (Oswego, Ill.) fanned four in 3.2 innings of his start… Two of the losses were by one run… Western did not face a left-handed pitcher on the weekend… Six different Leathernecks hit a home run. The team hit just 19 in the 50 games last year and already has seven in three games… Nathan Pollock (Lakewood, Ill.) returned after redshirting in 2015 and went 3-for-13 at the plate with a double… Aaron Michel (Decatur, Ill.) also returned after redshirting in 2015, and was the hard-luck loser in game one. He allowed two unearned runs on one hit in 1.1 innings, striking out two.
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS: Southern Illinois dropped 2-of-3 last weekend at McNeese State, winning the middle game 2-1, then lost a midweek game at Austin Peay 13-6… SIU stranded 12 runners on base against APSU on Tuesday… Logan Blackfan leads the hitting with a .375 average and accounted for four of the team's five doubles… SIU is fielding at a .966 clip… Three different players share the team RBI lead with three… Friday's starter Joey Marciano gave up three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings last weekend, striking out five with three walks… Chad Whitmer did not factor into the decision at McNeese, allowing one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out six and did not allow a walk… Michael Baird lost his start versus the Cowboys giving up two runs on two hits in five innings. He walked one and fanned five… Jacob Williams (0-0, 2.08) and Connor McFadden (0-0, 7.71) have each made three appearances… Anthony Shimkus earned the win in relief, allowing just one hit in three scoreless innings… This is the first meeting between the two teams since a 10-3 win by the Salukis played at Nicholls State on February 21, 2014 in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
|
