LAST TIME OUT: Chris Tschida drove in two runs and Pete Minella closed out the final 2.1 innings as Western Illinois defeated Omaha 3-1 in their Summit League series opener Friday afternoon (April 28). The Leathernecks improved to 11-8 in the Summit League and 16-23 overall, now having won eight of their last 11 contests… Tschida, Steve McShane, Drue Galassi and Cord Church each had a base hit for Western… Ian Koch (5-2) allowed one run on five hits in 6.2 innings. He walked seven and struck out six, one shy of his career-high… Minella went the final 2.1 innings with a hit and walk allowed to earn his team-leading fourth save.
SUMMIT RECAP: With three Summit League series remaining, Western looks to improve on its current 5-2 record winning series... The Leathernecks took 4-of-6 from Fort Wayne this year and following the victory over Omaha, captured 3-of-4 with the final two games rained out… Western took 2-of-3 versus South Dakota State, and travel to the Jackrabbits this weekend. The Leathernecks look to bounce back after losing 2-of-3 against North Dakota State and Oral Roberts... Western currently sits in second place based on percentage points, ahead of NDSU by one in the loss column and three on SDSU. The top four teams advance to the Summit League Tournament next month in Tulsa.
WIN TOTALS: Having won eight of their last 11, the Leathernecks' 16 victories have surpassed last year's win total and matched the 2015 total... Dating back over the past 10 years, 21 is the highest win total for WIU (done three times)... Western is scheduled for nine more Summit League games, another non-conference home contest and the Summit League Tournament (if qualified)... The current 11 Summit League wins put Western on the verge of another high total in that same span (13 the highest dating back to 2006).
NUMBERS ON THE RISE: Since starting the year 0-11, Western is 16-12 following the 3-1 win against Omaha... Adam McGinnis' .371 batting average leads the way as seven starters are hitting .300 or higher - with the team posting a .291 hitting clip... The defense owns a .966 fielding percentage while the pitching staff lowered their ERA to 3.45 in the 28-game span... Ian Koch leads with five victories, followed by Preston Church and Javin Drake with three wins each... Pete Minella is 2-0 with four saves... Nate Westfahl has three saves and Sam Cottingham-Beard is 1-1 with two saves... During this hot hitting span Western has had three players named Summit League 'Player of the Week' - Chris Tschida (.304), Mitch Ellis (.330) and Drue Galassi (.351). In fact, Galassi earned the Co-National Player of the Week award by Collegiate Baseball... Of Western's 16 victories, one came in extra innings (7-5 in 10 at Dayton) and four have been 10-run wins in either seven or eight innings.
DIAMOND STEALING: Western continues to lead The Summit League in stolen bases, by a wide margin... The Leathernecks swiped 67 bases in 39 games, 24 more than the next closest (Oral Roberts)... The 67 steals rank WIU 26th nationally and the 1.72 per game average puts the team 21st in the country... The team remains balanced up and down the lineup in steals - Deion Thompson and Drue Galassi as the highest ranked Leathernecks at sixth (8-of-10) in The Summit League. Western has 10 players ranked in the 'Top 25' (minimum four stolen bases).
SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARDS:
Chris Tschida - Player of the Week (April 3)
Mitch Ellis - Player of the Week (April 10)
Drue Galassi - Player of the Week (April 24)... also named Collegiate Baseball Co-National Player of the Week.
TEAM NOTES:
• Steve McShane and Drue Galassi have reached base in 10 consecutive games.
• Adam McGinnis saw his reached base streak of 27 consecutive games come to an end against Omaha. He leads the team with 15 multi-hit games.
• Drue Galassi is currently riding a career-best 7-game hitting streak.
• Earning his third save of the year following the Illinois State win, Nate Westfahl now has eight in his two-year career and stands third all-time (one shy of second place).
• Drue Galassi and Steve McShane have tied or broken four single-game records this year - all in the past two weeks.
• Pete Minella owns a 2-0 record with four saves and 0.95 ERA in his last 12 appearances. Opponents are batting just .149 off him.
• In Summit League games, Adam McGinnis owns a .391 batting average, .565 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage.
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… Not to be outdone, another pair of Leatherneck teammates accomplished the same feat at home versus North Dakota State. Mitch Ellis and Deion Thompson both hit solo homers in game one of the series… 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.
TSCHIDA APPROACHING A MILESTONE: Senior Chris Tschida is nearing a milestone, he recorded his 191st career base hit against Omaha (189 career games). With nine more hits, Tschida would become just the fourth Leatherneck ever to achieve that feat. He currently ranks fourth all-time in hits - trailing: Ryan Schmidgall (232), Dan Dispensa (224) and Jeff Wellwood (203)... His 252 total bases overtook 10th place all-time and he stands fifth all-time in games played.
LAST TIME VERSUS HAWKS: Western Illinois out-hit the Hawkeyes but came up short in a 4-1 decision last month... Deion Thompson recorded a then-career high three hits and Roman Visintine added two. Jimmy Perkins gave up three runs on five hits in four innings. Ian Koch, Matthew Sturchio and Nate Westfahl each pitched a scoreless inning of relief... Visintine recorded the team's RBI, plating Thompson on a hit.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES: Iowa enters the contest on a four-game winning streak, most recently sweeping a weekend series against Penn State. The Hawkeyes won 5-of-7 during their recent homestand… Robert Neustrom leads in batting at .358 followed by Jake Adams (.333) and Mason McCoy (.327)… Iowa is batting .284 overall, fielding at a .977 clip and a 4.06 team ERA… Scheduled starter Cole McDonald owns a 2-3 record and 6.08 ERA in nine starts (10 appearances. In 37 innings he has allowed 42 hits and 19 walks to 34 strikeouts.
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