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Four Game Series On Tap for Leatherneck Baseball

Series moved to Westfield, Indiana

#WIUGAMEDAY INFORMATION
     

Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-6)
vs.
Northern Kentucky Norse (2-5)


WHEN AND WHERE:
SATURDAY, MARCH 5
Preston Church (Jr, LHP) vs. Justin Watts (Jr, RHP)
Joe Mortillaro (Sr, RHP) vs. Pat Kelley (Soph, RHP)

SUNDAY, MARCH 6
J.T. Baksha (Soph, LHP) vs. Jordan Menfee (Fr, RHP)
TBA vs. TBA

Westfield, Indiana
Grand Park Sports Campus   

         
GAME NOTES:
Leatherneck Baseball

         
OPPONENT WEBSITE
NKUNorse.com
         
    
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
     
 
TWITTER:
@WIUBaseball
@WIUAthletics

         
INSTAGRAM:
Western Illinois Athletics
         
        
LIVE STATS:
 Northern Kentucky StatBroadcast Baseball

    
LIVE AUDIO:
Northern Kentucky audio
   

SOCIAL STADIUM:
#W1U Social Stadium (through SIDEARM Sports)
        
    
PRESEASON INFORMATION
     
      
2016 Preseason Quick Facts (.PDF)
2016 Schedule Release
2016 Roster
2016 Record Book
           
MACOMB, Ill. – The Fighting Leatherneck baseball team will play its longest weekend series of the year as it takes on Northern Kentucky in a four-game set. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. with a 12 p.m. start for Sunday's doubleheader. All four games will be nine innings.
 
The location for all four games is getting moved to Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
 
ABOUT GRAND PARK: Spanning 400 acres, the sports complex is the largest of its kind. There are 26 diamonds in the Grand Park Sports Campus – 18 grass, 4 full size synthetic diamonds and 4 junior size synthetic diamonds. With outdoor sports fields for baseball/softball, soccer and football, there are 20 lighted fields at the complex.
 
CHURCH STARTS YEAR WITH NEW CAREER-HIGH: Junior Preston Church 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… He logged six innings in his last start at Southern Illinois… Church was tabbed by Baseball America as the Summit League 'Preseason Pitcher of the Year'... Church currently leads the Summit League with 12.1 innings pitched and his 10 strikeouts are tied for third.
 
BULLPEN NOTES: Five new Western Illinois relief pitchers have combined for four earned runs in a combined 11.1 innings. Freshmen Jimmy Perkins (3.0 IP/1 hit) and Ian Koch (3.1 IP/1 ER), sophomore Ricky Digrugilliers (3.0 IP/1 ER) and juniors Nate Westfahl (0.1 IP) and Matthew Sturchio (1.2 IP/2 ER) have combined for eight relief appearances… Returners Colan Borchers (2.1 IP), Jordan Pannell (3.2 IP), Sam Cottingham-Beard (0.1 IP) and Robert Nunn (0.1 IP) have not allowed a run in six combined appearances.
 
TSCHIDA MATCHES TRIPLE-HIGH: During his freshman and sophomore year, Chris Tschida hit two triples in his 50 games played… The junior infielder already matched his season-high hitting two triples in the first six games of the 2016 campaign… With six career triples Tschida needs three more to join the career 'Top 10' list… He currently ranks fourth in the nation with his Summit League leading two triples.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Western enters this weekend ranked 32nd nationally in home runs per game (1.17), 50th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4), and 30th in triples per game (0.50)… Mark Garton ranks 69th in walks per game (1.0). His two hit by pitches are second-best in the Summit League.
 
SCOUTING THE NORSE: Northern Kentucky enters 2-5 overall, dropping four at Troy to open the season before taking 2-of-3 at East Tennessee State last weekend… A member of the Horizon League, the Norse are coming off a 21-12 series clinching win at ETSU… As a team, NKU is batting .256 with 17 doubles and four home runs while fielding at a .976 clip… Will Haueter (four doubles, three RBI) and Jake Hickey (two doubles, four runs scored) share the team lead batting at a .429 clip and both sport a .571 slugging percentage… The staff earned run average stands at 6.41 while opponents are batting .318 versus the Norse.
 
QUOTING RYAN BROWNLEE: "With the weather anticipated in the Northern Kentucky region, we are moving our series to Grand Park in Westfield, IN. It is a great facility. Our staff has been over there quite a bit the last two summers to scout amateur games. It also shortens our trip up by two hours which is another benefit of heading to Indy. We have been fortunate the last two weekends to have great weather to play in. It looks like we are going to have another great weekend of weather," said Brownlee, in his fourth year as head coach at Western. "I am excited to play Northern Kentucky, an opponent we haven't played before. We are playing four games this weekend. It is a perfect time for us to play another game on the weekend. It will give us an opportunity to get another pitcher a start. We will have five games the following week so we need to use this as a chance to get our rotation set for Spring Break and heading into Summit League play. We have quite a bit of competition for innings and at bats right now so it will be another weekend of evaluating our guys and continue to make improvements."
    




















































 
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Players Mentioned

J.T. Baksha

#34 J.T. Baksha

LHP
6' 1"
Sophomore
L/L
Colan Borchers

#16 Colan Borchers

RHP
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

LHP
6' 3"
Junior
L/L
Sam Cottingham-Beard

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard

RHP
6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
Mark Garton

#8 Mark Garton

C
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Joe Mortillaro

#21 Joe Mortillaro

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Robert Nunn

#31 Robert Nunn

RHP
6' 5"
Junior
R/R
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

INF
6' 3"
Junior
R/R
Nate Westfahl

#19 Nate Westfahl

P
6' 3"
Junior
L/L
Matthew Sturchio

#2 Matthew Sturchio

P
5' 10"
Junior
R/R
Jimmy Perkins

#20 Jimmy Perkins

OF/P
5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
Ian Koch

#23 Ian Koch

P
6' 5"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

J.T. Baksha

#34 J.T. Baksha

6' 1"
Sophomore
L/L
LHP
Colan Borchers

#16 Colan Borchers

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

6' 3"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Sam Cottingham-Beard

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard

6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Mark Garton

#8 Mark Garton

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
C
Joe Mortillaro

#21 Joe Mortillaro

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Robert Nunn

#31 Robert Nunn

6' 5"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
INF
Nate Westfahl

#19 Nate Westfahl

6' 3"
Junior
L/L
P
Matthew Sturchio

#2 Matthew Sturchio

5' 10"
Junior
R/R
P
Jimmy Perkins

#20 Jimmy Perkins

5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
OF/P
Ian Koch

#23 Ian Koch

6' 5"
Freshman
R/R
P