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Western Illinois University Athletics

Deion Thompson
5
Winner Western Illinois WIU 7-17, 4-4 SL
2
Oral Roberts ORU 18-8, 7-1 SL
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
7-17, 4-4 SL
5
Final
2
Oral Roberts ORU
18-8, 7-1 SL
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 5 11 0
Oral Roberts ORU 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 7 0

W: Church, Preston (2-2) L: Josh McMinn (4-2) S: Westfahl, Nate (2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Hand Oral Roberts Its First Summit League Loss

Western Illinois secured a 5-2 road win in Tulsa to even the series.

TULSA, Okla. -  Western Illinois handed Oral Roberts its first Summit League loss with a 5-2 win Saturday (April 1) in Tulsa.
 
The win also snapped the Golden Eagle's 38-game home winning streak against the Purple & Gold.
 
"We felt like we left them off the hook last night after having some opportunities to score. If you want to beat teams as good as them, then you have to lay the hammer down," said head coach Ryan Brownlee. "I thought our mentality was much better today and if you want to beat good programs, then you have to take advantage of the opportunities. We played very good defense and I'm happy with the way our guys responded."
 
The Leathernecks (7-17 overall, 4-4 Summit League) got things started with a 5-4-3 double play capped off by Preston Church's second strikeout of the day to close out the second inning.
 
In the top of the third, Mitch Ellis ripped a shot to right field for the first base hit of the game and found himself in scoring position after advancing to second on Cord Church's ground out.  The Leathernecks almost got their first potential run in the top of the third when Drue Galassi followed up and launched a ball to the scoreboard in right center, but flew out at the warning track to end the half inning.
 
The Golden Eagles (18-8, 7-1) opened the bottom of the third with a single to left field. After a walk, Oral Roberts put itself in scoring position with runners on first and second. The Leathernecks saved a potential ORU score when Galassi got a magnificent over-the-shoulder catch, followed by a fly out to Cord Church.
 
With two outs in the top of the fourth, Chris Tschida doubled to left-center, but the Leathernecks could not gather their first run with a fly out.  
 
The Leathernecks found some spark after Deion Thompson smacked a line drive up the middle for a single. With two outs, Cord Church lined a ball down the left field line and sent Thompson home to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth after a triple that preceded a sacrifice fly.
 
Western Illinois responded in the sixth with a trio of singles to left field in its first three at-bats by Roman Visintine, Adam McGinnis and Tschida to load the bases. The Leathernecks regained a 2-1 lead when Thompson hit the team's fourth straight single to left field and sent Visintine home. The lead increased to 3-1 after Ellis was walked, which sent McGinnis in for the score.   
 
ORU put runners on first and second to open the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, the Golden Eagles singled up the middle to get within a run of Western. Preston Church, however, was able to close out the inning as he got the batter swinging with his fourth strikeout.
 
Two runs on two hits gave Western a 5-2 advantage in the top of the seventh. After Galassi was walked and stole second, McGinnis was there for the cleanup and lined a shot just over the ORU second baseman to send Galassi home and give Western a 4-2 lead. Tschida followed up with a single down the right field line to send McGinnis to second, then Johnathan Fleek was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Thompson's sacrifice fly made it 5-2.   
 
Oral Roberts came out swinging in the bottom of the seventh and a line to right center got runners on first and second. The Leathernecks were able to leave the baserunners stranded on Preston Church's strikeout and a pair of pop outs.

Sam Cottingham-Beard came in for Preston Church in the top of the eighth, and opened with a quick strikeout. A flyout to Visintine followed by another strikeout by Cottingham-Beard retired the inning.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the duo of Cottingham-Beard and Nate Westfahl closed out the game on the mound and secured the win for the Leathernecks.
 
Preston Church (2-2) finished the game with five strikeouts through seven innings pitched, while Cottingham-Beard had three strikeouts in 1.1 innings. Westfahl earned his second save of the year.

Tschida matched a season-high of three hits, his second 3-hit game this week. McGinnis, Visintine and Thompson had two hits apiece. McGinnis scored two runs and Thompson drove in a pair. Western out-hit ORU 11-7 as the 3-5 hitters combined for seven hits and three runs scored.

Josh McMinn (4-2) allowed three runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
 
The Leathernecks return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. to close out the series against Oral Roberts.
 
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