Baseball Plays Two at Missouri State

Leathernecks travel to 12th-ranked Bears on Tuesday-Wednesday match-up

WIUGAMEDAY INFORMATION

     Western Illinois Leathernecks (2-11)
at
#12 Missouri State Bears (12-2)

WHEN AND WHERE:
TUESDAY, MARCH 15
Aaron Michel (Jr, LHP) vs. TBA

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
TBA vs. TBA

Springfield, Missouri
Hammons Field

GAME NOTES:
Leatherneck Baseball

OPPONENT WEBSITE
MissouriStateBears.com

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

TWITTER:
@WIUBaseball
@WIUAthletics


INSTAGRAM:
Western Illinois Athletics


LIVE STATS:
Missouri State Baseball


SOCIAL STADIUM:
#W1U Social Stadium (through SIDEARM Sports)

PRESEASON INFORMATION

2016 Preseason Quick Facts (.PDF)

2016 Schedule Release

2016 Roster

2016 Record Book

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Western Illinois opens a two-game midweek series against 12th-ranked Missouri State. Tuesday and Wednesday's game are scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.

BROWNLEE'S FOURTH YEAR: Head coach Ryan Brownlee is in his fourth year in charge of Leatherneck Baseball. His 57 wins are second-most by a WIU head coach in their first three years, behind only Stan Hyman (66 from 2002-04)... Brownlee has coached 11 All-Summit League selections, seven All-Tournament picks and seen four of his WIU players move on to play professional baseball (3 MLB Draft picks, 1 Free Agent)... He made an immediate impact for the program during his collegiate head coaching debut series in 2013 when the Leathernecks knocked off preseason ranked #1 Arkansas.

TEAM NOTES:
• Western's pitching staff leads The Summit League averaging 8.45 strikeouts per game, nearly one strikeout higher than the next closest team... The defense ranks third in fielding percentage (.959).

• Nate Westfahl picked up his first WIU save in game four of the Northern Kentucky series... The junior transfer allowed one run on two hits in 3.0 innings.

• Despite hitting just .160 last weekend at #14 Arkansas, the pitching staff held the Hogs to a .253 clip after they entered the weekend hitting above .300 as a team... The 4.97 ERA is the lowest team ERA in a weekend series this season.

• Western continues a stretch of playing five consecutive games against a nationally-ranked opponent - having just completed three at Arkansas and now two at Missouri State... That leads into the home and Summit League opener versus North Dakota State (March 18-20).

• Freshman Ian Koch earned his second straight weekend start. Despite suffering the loss, he posts a 3.65 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 12.1 innings.

• Jordan Pannell was the hard-luck loser on Friday at Arkansas. He posts a 2.25 ERA with 13 strikeouts to two walks in 8.0 innings with an opponent batting average of .214.

• Western has three starters hitting .333 or batter this year... JUCO transfer Connor Currier leads with a .355 average, followed by junior Chris Tschida (.340) and sophomore Colton Pogue (.333).

• Colton Pogue's .646 slugging percentage leads the team with Chris Tschida next at .566... In the on-base percentage category, Tschida (.419) holds a slight edge over Pogue (.414)... Pogue ranks fourth in The Summit League with his three home runs while Tschida and Deion Thompson are part of a large group tied for fifth.

• Last weekend, Western finally scored in the fourth inning... the only frame this year Western had not scored in... The Leathernecks hold a 13-12 edge in the fifth inning, 9-8 in the eighth, and tied 9-9 in the second frame... Western is 1-2 when scoring first but just 1-9 when the opponents score first.

SCOUTING THE BEARS: Missouri State is coming off a three-game sweep at Memphis last weekend... The Bears, who advanced to the Super Regionals in 2015, improved to 12-2 overall and own a 4-1 record at home... Spencer Johnson leads the team with seven home runs and ranks second with 17 RBI... Jake Burger is batting .400 with six homers and team-leading 18 RBI... MSU has hit 23 homers this year while allowing just four and the pitching staff is holding opponents to a .297 slugging percentage... Five starters are hitting .315 or better on the year... Bryan Young has recorded four saves in the seven relief appearances he has made... MSU pitchers fanned 145 batters to 57 walks in 126 innings this season... The Bears are ranked 12th in the latest Collegiate Baseball 'Top 30' poll.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Aaron Michel: LHP; 5' 10"; Junior; L/L

#6 Chris Tschida: INF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#19 Nate Westfahl: P; 6' 3"; Junior; L/L

#33 Deion Thompson: INF; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#23 Ian Koch: P; 6' 5"; Freshman; R/R

#18 Conner Currier: INF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#37 Jordan Pannell: P; 6' 5"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#11 Aaron Michel
: 5' 10"; Junior; L/L
: LHP

#6 Chris Tschida
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#19 Nate Westfahl
: 6' 3"; Junior; L/L
: P

#33 Deion Thompson
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#23 Ian Koch
: 6' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: P

#18 Conner Currier
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#37 Jordan Pannell
: 6' 5"; Senior; R/R
: P