LEATHERNECKS OPEN AT HOME, FINALLY: After 14 games away from home, the Leathernecks begin both Summit League and home play this weekend against Fort Wayne... Western opens eight straight at home - versus the Mastodons, then follow that with a midweek against St. Ambrose, league series versus North Dakota State and another midweek against Bradley... The remainder of the home schedule has four straight on two occasions and a three-game set to close out at home - a total of 19 home games this season.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS: Fort Wayne brings a 3-12 record into this weekend... Two of their wins came during the opening weekend, splitting at Alabama A&M... The Mastodons captured a 5-3 win versus NJIT in Georgia, part of four games at LakePoint... FW has lost eight in a row heading into this weekend, including a loss at #4 Louisville midweek... Jake Weber leads the hitting attack (and The Summit League) at a .401 clip... Jackson Boyce is tied for the lead in the league with seven stolen bases, Brady Hettinger is next with six steals... Mitchell Ley leads with a 4.57 ERA
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Western was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League preseason poll... The Leathernecks started the 2016 conference season winning their first three series, but 10 Leathernecks who started early in the season suffered injuries that forced them to miss multiple games. Western ended up 11-19 and just missing on qualifying for the postseason tournament... Junior outfielder Roman Visintine was named one of six from the Summit League as a 'Player to Watch'.
TSCHIDA APPROACHING CAREER RECORDS LISTINGS: Senior Chris Tschida is approaching a couple of career 'Top 10' categories… With 164 career games played, he needs three more to tie for ninth place all-time… His 163 hits put him six shy of Ryan Langdon's total for 10th place, and just 18 away from joining the top five all-time… Tschdia also needs two triples to match the current three-way tie for ninth with nine.
ONE RUN LOSSES: Western has played four games so far this year to a one-run loss – 10-9 in extra innings at Mississippi State, 5-4 at Southeast Missouri, 3-2 at Southern Illinois, and 7-6 at Saint Louis… WIU also dropped an 8-6 decision at SIU.
SPEAKING STATS: Western owns a .226 team batting average, .944 fielding percentage and lowered the team ERA to 8.08.
CURRIER RETURNING TO FORM: Senior Conner Currier was second on the team last year with a .315 batting average, but started this year 1-of-20… Over the last four games, Currier has heated up going 6-for-14 with three runs scored and two RBI… His batting average has jumped 156 points in that span.
BACK-TO-BACK JACKS: Western Illinois accomplished a feat not done since March 2008 when in the first inning of game two at Southeast Missouri Adam McGinnis and Drue Galassi hit consecutive home runs… McGinnis launched a 2-run shot followed by Galassi's solo homer… It was the first time since Cooper Stewart (3-run) and Tyler Metcalf hit back-to-back jacks at Oklahoma.
HIT FOR THE CYCLE, SORT OF: Sophomore Drue Galassi enjoyed a productive day at the plate on Saturday in a doubleheader against #14 Texas Tech and Mississippi State... He earned the start in game one batting seventh. After starting 0-for-2, Galassi lined a RBI triple in the seventh inning. During the ninth inning with two outs, Galassi turned on a 3-2 pitch and launched it well over the right field fence... In the nightcap against the Bulldogs, Galassi batted fourth. He doubled and scored in the fourth inning then singled and stole a base in the sixth.
D1BASEBALL.COM PLAYERS TO WATCH: According to the Preseason Summit League preview by D1Baseball.com, seniors Adam McGinnis (C) and Preston Church (LHP) were two of the top 10 prospects in the 2017 MLB Draft Class... Sophomore Deion Thompson was ranked fourth of the five prospects for the 2018 Draft... Freshman right-handed pitcher Javin Drake was one of five Impact Freshman chosen by the website.
TEAM NOTES:
• Ian Koch recorded two pickoffs during his start against Mississippi State and has three on the year. He had just one pickoff in his team-leading 12 starts last year... Koch also leads the team in innings pitched (24.1), strikeouts (21) and second in ERA (4.44).
• Western snapped an 11-game losing streak to start the year, rallying in the ninth inning at Dayton then eventually winning in the 10th.
• Senior Preston Church made his first start of the season at Southern Illinois. The 2016 Preseason Summit League 'Pitcher of the Year' made his first start in nearly a year since missing the final two months due to his injury.
• Senior Adam McGinnis is off to a hot start his senior year. With an overall batting average of .341, the summer collegian Honorable Mention All-America selection has four multi-hit games, and also ranks second with two multi-RBI contests… He's tied for the team lead with four doubles, ranks third with six RBI, and leads the way with five hit by pitches… His on-base percentage of .438 paces the squad.
• Drue Galassi's .500 slugging percentage ranks second among the Leathernecks. The sophomore's seven RBI in 13 games played is tied for the team lead, and he has accounted for two of the team's five home runs. He missed the final two months of the 2016 season with an injury, playing in only 12 games.
• Deion Thompson is 4-for-4 in stolen bases and Cord Church is next at 3-for-3… Roman Visintine (3-of-4) and Johnathan Fleek (3-for-5) are tied with Church for the second-most steals.
• Johnathan Fleek kept his hot bat going, accounting for three hits at Saint Louis. His second 3-hit game of the year improved his batting average to a team-leading .350 clip. He's tied for the team lead with seven RBI, been hit by three pitches, and is one of two starters with an on-base percentage of .400 or better (.409).
• Adam McGinnis leads with a .950 OPS, followed by Johnathan Fleek (.834) and Drue Galassi (.833) one point between each other, and Roman Visintine (.756).
• Ian Koch's 1.56 WHIP is just ahead of Nate Westfahl (1.60) and Preston Church (1.62).
• The defense has turned 11 double plays in 14 games.
• Four different players have two sacrifice hits so far – Johnathan Fleek, Drue Galassi, Mitch Ellis and Chris Tschida.
• Sam Cottingham-Beard struck out a career-high seven batters in 3-plus innings of relief at Dayton to earn the win. He now has 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.
• Roman Visintine, Adam McGinnis and Drue Galassi are tied for the team-lead with four multi-hit games this year. Johnathan Fleek (2) and Galassi (1) have accounted for the team season-high three hits in a game mark.
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