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2
Western Illinois WIU 0-10
3
Winner Southern Illinois SIU 7-4
Western Illinois WIU
0-10
2
Final
3
Southern Illinois SIU
7-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 1
Southern Illinois SIU 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 0

W: Gutermuth, A (1-0) L: Church, Preston (0-2) S: Netemeyer (3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Drop Finale at SIU

Adam McGinnis had two hits and a run driven in

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Western Illinois staged a ninth inning rally but came up short in a 3-2 decision Sunday afternoon (March 5) at Southern Illinois.
 
Down by one, Chris Tschida singled on a 3-2 pitch down the right field line. He took second on a sacrifice bunt by Johnathan Fleek, then went to third on another bunt attempt. But Ryan Netemeyer got a strikeout to end the game.
 
"Where we are at is not where we are going to be shortly. I couldn't be prouder of how our team is handling adversity. Each game we get closer. We had another weekend of facing quality Division I arms. We talked this week about what type of approach we needed to have off SIU's arms and our guys were much improved from last year. The same arms pretty much had their way with us last year," said head coach Ryan Brownlee.
 
Southern (7-4 overall) threatened in the first inning, putting a pair of runners on with one out. Preston Church, making his first start of the year, got a flyball and strikeout to end the frame. SIU plated three runs in the bottom of the second, but Western cut into the deficit in the third.
 
Conner Currier singled to start the inning, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt. He scored on Roman Visintine's sacrifice bunt. Adam McGinnis later delivered a two-out RBI single making it 3-2.
 
Western also threatened in the sixth. McGinnis singled to start but was caught stealing. Tschida walked and stole second but was eventually stranded in scoring position.
 
Preston Church allowed three runs on five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out four. Sam Cottingham-Beard pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing a hit and striking out two. Nate Westfahl delivered a 1-2-3 eighth inning. The pitching staff scattered six hits.
 
McGinnis had two of Western's five hits. Tschida tied his career-high of two walks.
 
"Ian (Koch) gave us a chance Friday with not his best stuff. I'm proud of how far he has come in one and a half years. Yesterday was a great learning opportunity for Javin (Drake). A freshman year is about learning to handle adversity. He will learn and be much better for it. Preston gave us a huge boost today. He pitched like a veteran. We are really excited to have him back. He strung together his best innings of the year in the third, fourth and fifth. We made some really good defensive plays this weekend," said Brownlee. "C.J., Adam and Austin all caught well. All three have really been consistent defensively.
 
"Adam has really flourished offensively to start this year. He has put together veteran at-bats off really good arms. It is just a matter of time before C.J. gets things going offensively. You can see each game that our hitters and pitchers are getting more comfortable. I'm really looking forward to this week of practice and continuing to improve. I heard this a lot growing up and it holds true every year. 'It's not where you start, it's where you finish'," said Brownlee.
 
Western (0-10) opens its Spring Break trip to Ohio on Friday (March 10) with a 4 p.m. game at Wright State.
 
 
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