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Western Illinois University Athletics

Dave Dobrinich

Baseball WIU Athletic Communications

Baseball Travels to In-State Foe Salukis

Three game series in Carbondale starts Friday


Western Illinois (0-7) at Southern Illinois (4-4)
FRIDAY, MARCH 3 - 2 p.m.  |  SATURDAY, MARCH 4 - 2 p.m.  |  SUNDAY, MARCH 5 - 1 p.m.
Itchy Jones Stadium  |  Carbondale, Illinois

AUDIO: None         
VIDEO: None
LIVE STATS: SIUSalukis.com

SOCIAL MEDIA:
@WIUBaseball  |  @SEMObaseball

PROBABLE PITCHERS:
Ian Koch (Soph/RHP) vs. Chad Whitmer (Sr/RHP)
Javin Drake (Fr/RHP) vs. Michael Baird (Jr/RHP)
TBA vs. Joey Marciano (Sr/LHP)

LEATHERNECKS FACE IN-STATE SALUKIS: Western Illinois opens March with a three-game series at Southern Illinois… The Salukis will be at home for the first time this year… Western continues its 16-game road trip to start the 2017 campaign… The two teams met last year for a three-game series in Carbondale and will square off for the third time in four years.
 
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS: Southern Illinois exploded for 17 runs on Tuesday at Belmont, but dropped an 18-17 midweek game in Nashville… The loss dropped SIU to 4-4 overall… The season started with a weekend sweep at Stetson, lost a midweek at Austin Peay and dropped 2-of-3 at Louisiana-Monroe (including one in extra innings)… As a team, SIU owns a .277 batting average, 4.11 ERA and is fielding at a .974 clip… The weekend starting rotation is set at Chad Whitmer, Michael Baird and Joey Marciano… Baird is 2-0 and has yet to allow a run in 13.2 innings pitched, giving up eight hits, two walks and eight strikeouts… Marciano stands 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 4.0 innings pitched… Whitmer is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA, allowing two earned runs in 12 innings. He's walked two and struck out 11… Five starters are hitting above .300, led by Will Farmer (.364) and Nick Hutchins (.333).
 
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 to put Western ahead 3-0… It was the first time since Cooper Stewart (3-run) and Tyler Metcalf hit back-to-back jacks at Oklahoma.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE LEADERS: Western leads The Summit League in sacrifice bunts (6/34th nationally)… The Leathernecks' 1.0 double plays turned per game leads the league and stands 38th nationally… WIU also ranks second in the league in two other categories, including home runs (5)… Ian Koch's ERA of 0.77 ranks first in the league… Koch and Matthew Sturchio are tied with two games started each… Chris Tschida ranks first in sacrifice bunts (2)…
 
NCAA REGIONALS OPPONENTS? WILL BE FOUR OF FIVE: Western Illinois is playing one of the more challenging non-conference schedules in the country. After opening the season in Starkville against College World Series participant Texas Tech and at Regionals host Mississippi State, Western traveled last weekend to Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri… This weekend, Western will face Southern Illinois (31 wins in 2016)… Next weekend to open Spring Break, the Leathernecks play at Wright State (Horizon League champion/Louisville Regional).
 
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. He had just one pickoff in his team-leading 12 starts last year.
 
• Ian Koch has allowed just one earned run in 11.2 innings. He's given up just 11 hits and stuck out 11 to six walks allowed.
 
• Freshman Javin Drake leads the pitching staff with a .235 opponent batting average. Ian Koch is next at .250.
 
• Drue Galassi's .727 slugging percentage leads the Leathernecks, and he's in a four-way tie for first in on-base percentage (.400).
 
• The defense has turned seven double plays in seven games.
 
• Mitch Ellis recorded a hit in all four of his games in his Leatherneck debut. He was held hitless in the Southeast Missouri opener but recorded a hit in each of the final two games of the series.
 
• Senior Preston Church returned to the mound in a relief role. The preseason 2016 Summit League 'Pitcher of the Year' made only five starts last year before missing the rest of the year with an injury. He's made two appearances this year (3.1 IP).
 
• Chris Tschida moved to within 12 hits of tying for 10th place all-time. He is six games shy of tying for 10th place in that career category.
 
• Adam McGinnis hit his first home run on the season as part of the back-to-back effort in game two at Southeast Missouri. He leads the team with only one strikeout in 18 at-bats this year.
 
• Carson Cheesman returned to the mound after missing the 2016 season with an injury. He threw 1.2 innings of relief at Southeast Missouri.
 
SCHEDULE: Western will face a rigorous non-conference schedule, going up against five teams that advanced to the NCAA Regionals. Four teams finished with 40 wins last year - Texas Tech (47), Mississippi State (44), Wright State (46) and Kent State (43)... Southeast Missouri (38), Summit League foe Oral Roberts (38) and Southern Illinois (31) all finished with 31-plus wins.
            "There's a good quote I saw the other day that said, 'You can't sharpen a knife with Kleenex', which I think what our early schedule is. We're going to get better by playing better competition. I don't schedule games to not win, we're scheduling every game because I think we have a legitimate chance to go out and win that game… You look at everyone we're playing they all have Regionals experience for the most part, except for a couple of teams, and I like that. I think it's better for us to go out and get after someone else who has been there. I think you get better by doing that," said Brownlee.
 
HEAD COACH RYAN BROWNLEE: Head coach Ryan Brownlee is in his fifth year in charge of Leatherneck Baseball. His 71 wins ranks him fourth all-time in Western Illinois history... Brownlee has coached 12 All-Summit League selections, seven All-Tournament picks and seen six of his WIU players move on to play professional baseball (3 MLB Draft picks, 3 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.
 
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'.
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Carson Cheesman

#25 Carson Cheesman

LHP
5' 10"
Junior
L/L
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

LHP
6' 3"
Senior
L/L
Drue Galassi

#13 Drue Galassi

INF
6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
L/R
Ian Koch

#23 Ian Koch

P
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Adam McGinnis

#12 Adam McGinnis

C
5' 10"
Senior
R/R
Matthew Sturchio

#2 Matthew Sturchio

P
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Deion Thompson

#33 Deion Thompson

INF
6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

INF
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
Roman Visintine

#9 Roman Visintine

OF
6' 0"
Junior
L/R
Mitch Ellis

#10 Mitch Ellis

INF
6' 1"
Junior
B/R
Javin Drake

#44 Javin Drake

P
6' 4"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Carson Cheesman

#25 Carson Cheesman

5' 10"
Junior
L/L
LHP
Preston Church

#24 Preston Church

6' 3"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Drue Galassi

#13 Drue Galassi

6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
L/R
INF
Ian Koch

#23 Ian Koch

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Adam McGinnis

#12 Adam McGinnis

5' 10"
Senior
R/R
C
Matthew Sturchio

#2 Matthew Sturchio

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
P
Deion Thompson

#33 Deion Thompson

6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
INF
Chris Tschida

#6 Chris Tschida

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
INF
Roman Visintine

#9 Roman Visintine

6' 0"
Junior
L/R
OF
Mitch Ellis

#10 Mitch Ellis

6' 1"
Junior
B/R
INF
Javin Drake

#44 Javin Drake

6' 4"
Freshman
R/R
P