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South Dakota State road series

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Leathernecks Face Off Versus South Dakota State

Western travels to Brookings for a three-game series

#WIUGAMEDAY INFORMATION
 

Western Illinois Leathernecks (11-25, 8-10 Summit League)
at
South Dakota State Jackrabbits (16-24, 10-8 Summit League)

WHEN AND WHERE:
FRIDAY, APRIL 29 - 3 p.m.
Ian Koch (Fr, RHP) vs. Andrew Clemen (RHP)

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 - 1 p.m.
Sam Cottingham-Beard (Soph, RHP) vs. Will McAffer (Fr, RHP)

SUNDAY, MAY 1 - 1 p.m.
TBA vs. Ryan Froom (Jr, RHP)

Brookings, South Dakota

GAME NOTES:
Leatherneck Baseball    
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TWITTER:
@WIUBaseball
@WIUAthletics

         
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LIVE STATS:
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SOCIAL STADIUM:
#W1U Social Stadium (through SIDEARM Sports)
        
    
PRESEASON INFORMATION
     
      
2016 Preseason Quick Facts (.PDF)
2016 Schedule Release
2016 Roster
2016 Record Book
           
BROOKINGS, S.D. – Western Illinois enters week two of the three straight Summit League road series at South Dakota State this weekend... The Leathernecks are currently in fourth place but just two games back of second... Western was rained out mid-week while SDSU defeated Dakota State on Tuesday 12-6.

FIRST MEETING: Western rallied for a 3-2 win in the opener, getting out of a bases loaded jam with no one out in the eighth without allowing a run... SDSU captured game two 11-3 but the Leathernecks rebounded in the nightcap of the doubleheader with a 2-0 shutout to win the series... Adam McGinnis finished 4-for-6 in the series, Roman Visintine added four hits and Nick Schrader went 3-for-9... Joe Mortillaro and Aaron Michel earned the pitching wins while Nate Westfahl and Ricky Digrugilliers earned the save.

TEAM NOTES:
• Steve McShane entered last weekend with two multi-hit games. He matched his season total during the three-game series at North Dakota State.

• Cord Church entered Saturday's doubleheader with four hits and no RBI on the year. The junior outfielder led Western to the victory tallying four hits and driving in a team season-high five runs.

• Western's five players with two triples are all tied for fourth place in the Summit League, one shy of the lead.

• The Leathernecks have started six different pitchers during a weekend series this year... Two of the opening weekend starters have missed most of the season with an injury - Jr/LHP Preston Church and Soph/LHP JT Baksha.

• In Western's last game, seven of the 10 starters had two years or less of Division I playing experience.

• Steve McShane is tied for ninth in the Summit League going 8-for-12 in stolen bases.

• Conner Currier and Chris Tschida are the top two on the team in walks, with 22 and 21, respectively. Currier is tied for ninth in the Summit League while Tschida is one away from the 'Top 10'.

• Last weekend Western gave up nine unearned runs, the second-most in a weekend series. The high is 10 in the season-opening weekend at Tennessee Tech.

• Roman Visintine's 25 hits in Summit League games ties him for seventh.

• Sophomore Dave Dobrinich made his collegiate pitching debut against St. Ambrose. He threw two-thirds of an inning with a walk and no hits allowed.

• Sam Cottingham-Beard has thrown 15.2 innings in his three starts, giving up a combined five runs on 13 hits with 10 strikeouts... Over his last four appearances (20.1 IP), Cottingham-Beard has given up six runs with 12 strikeouts (1-1 record).

• Mark Garton needs two hits to reach 100 in his career.
• Jordan Pannell struck out a career-high six batters in the seven outs recorded at NDSU. That now gives him 31 Ks in 24 innings.

• Conner Currier's six hits in the three-game series at NDSU matched his total from the previous 10 games.

VISINTINE ENDS AT 14, STARTING AGAIN: Sophomore Roman Visintine saw his team-leading and career-high hitting streak end at 14 games during game two of the Oral Roberts series, but he started again versus St. Ambrose... Visintine matched a career-high of three hits in the 9-1 win over the Bees, scoring twice and driving in a run... He carries a seven-game hit streak into this weekend, finishing 5-for-15 last weekend at NDSU. In that span he's 12-for-32 at the plate with seven runs scored and four multi-hit games.

TRIPLE THREAT: Western knocked another triple on the year during the St. Ambrose game, with Roman Visintine leading off the first inning with a triple off the fence... Visintine moved into a share of the team lead with Chris Tschida, Conner Currier, Drue Galassi and Steve McShane with two each... Western has as many triples (14) than home runs (14) this year.

SUMMIT LEAGUE START: Western won three straight Summit League series to start the season... Just like the Omaha series, Western lost its opener to North Dakota State before winning the final two games... The last time Western won three series to open Summit League play (then Mid-Continent Conference) was 2005 when the Leathernecks won four straight to start: taking 3-of-4 at Valparaiso, 3-of-4 versus Centenary, 3-of-4 at Oakland and 3-of-4 versus Chicago State.

WELCOME BACK THOMPSON: True-freshman Deion Thompson returned to the line-up after missing half the season with an injury... In the seven games since his return, Thompson has hit two home runs, a double, scored four runs and driven in five... In just 11 games played, Thompson holds the team lead with four home runs and he's tied for ninth in The Summit League.

WESTFAHL IN THE TOP 10: Junior Nate Westfahl put his name in the WIU season 'Top 10' record book when he recorded his fourth save of the year at Omaha... Westfahl moved into a tie for seventh with his four saves... Season leader Brian Loconsole has nine and the last two years the career leader Tyler Owings recorded five and six, respectively... One more save for Westfahl will move him into a potential five-way tie for third place.

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: SDSU owns a series sweep over North Dakota State but is coming off losing 2-of-3 at Omaha last weekend... The Jackrabbits play three of their final four series at home... Landon Busch owns a 5-0 record and 1.86 ERA in six Summit League relief appearances... Luke Ringhofer owns a .464 batting average in League play... Phil Velez (.365) and Jesse Munsterman (.349) also rank among the team conference batting leaders.

 
    




















































 
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Players Mentioned

Tyler Owings

#34 Tyler Owings

LHP
6' 4"
Senior
L/L
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

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

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard

RHP
6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
Dave Dobrinich

#30 Dave Dobrinich

OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
Mark Garton

#8 Mark Garton

C
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Adam McGinnis

#12 Adam McGinnis

C
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Aaron Michel

#11 Aaron Michel

LHP
5' 10"
Junior
L/L
Joe Mortillaro

#21 Joe Mortillaro

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

INF
6' 3"
Junior
R/R
Roman Visintine

#9 Roman Visintine

OF
6' 0"
Sophomore
L/R
Cord Church

#17 Cord Church

OF
6' 2"
Junior
R/R
Nate Westfahl

#19 Nate Westfahl

P
6' 3"
Junior
L/L

Players Mentioned

Tyler Owings

#34 Tyler Owings

6' 4"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

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

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard

6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Dave Dobrinich

#30 Dave Dobrinich

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
OF
Mark Garton

#8 Mark Garton

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
C
Adam McGinnis

#12 Adam McGinnis

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
C
Aaron Michel

#11 Aaron Michel

5' 10"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Joe Mortillaro

#21 Joe Mortillaro

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
INF
Roman Visintine

#9 Roman Visintine

6' 0"
Sophomore
L/R
OF
Cord Church

#17 Cord Church

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
OF
Nate Westfahl

#19 Nate Westfahl

6' 3"
Junior
L/L
P