LAST TIME OUT: Adam McGinnis hit a pair of 3-run home runs and Drue Galassi hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning with two outs, but Western Illinois dropped its finale at South Dakota State 8-7 last Sunday... The loss gave SDSU the weekend series... Western earned a 3-3 split this year with the Jackrabbits... Pete Minella earned the save in game one, throwing a career-high 4.0 innings while striking out a personal-high six batters... McGinnis and Minella were named The Summit League's Player and Co-Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
SUMMIT RECAP: With two Summit League series remaining, Western Illinois controls its own destiny to earn a spot among the top four to the postseason tournament... Western owns the tie-breaker over fifth place Omaha (3-1), and split the season-series with South Dakota State (3-3). SDSU captured a win over Oral Roberts (1-5) while Western also defeated the current league-leader in Tulsa with three games remaining... If Western can take 2-of-3 at NDSU, that would even the season series... Owning the tie-breaker over Omaha, Western is up three games on Omaha with six to play.
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'.
NUMBERS ON THE RISE: Since starting the year 0-11, Western is 18-14... Adam McGinnis' .372 batting average leads the way as five starters are hitting .317 or higher - with the team posting a .285 hitting clip... The defense owns a .966 fielding percentage while the pitching staff ERA stands at 4.08 in the 32-game span... Ian Koch leads with five victories, followed by Preston Church, Pete Minella and Javin Drake with three wins each... Minella took sole possession of the team lead with five saves... Nate Westfahl has four saves and Sam Cottingham-Beard is 1-1 with two saves... During this hot hitting span Western has had four players and a pitcher named Summit League 'Player of the Week' - Chris Tschida (.274), Mitch Ellis (.349), Drue Galassi (.337), and Adam McGinnis. Minella was named Co-Pitcher of the Week. Galassi during his weekly award also earned the Co-National Player of the Week award by Collegiate Baseball.
DIAMOND STEALING: Western continues to lead The Summit League in stolen bases, by a wide margin... The Leathernecks swiped 72 bases in 43 games, 26 more than the next closest (Oral Roberts)... The 72 steals rank WIU 26th nationally and the 1.67 per game average puts the team 22nd 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 tied for fifth (9 each) in The Summit League. Western has eight players ranked in the 'Top 21' (minimum five stolen bases).
MINELLA MAKING AN IMPACT: Sophomore Pete Minella continues to make an impact on the mound for Western Illinois. The sophomore, who missed all of last year with an injury, owns a 3-0 record and five saves in 16 appearances with a 3.90 ERA. However, if you look at Western's success over the last 32 games, Minella's ERA drops to just 0.72 in 14 games (three starts). The left-hander has allowed two earned runs on 13 hits in 25 innings, striking out 15 to just three walks, while opponents are batting .146... In nine Summit League appearances (five saves), Minella has not allowed an earned run (one run total) in 16.1 innings, scattering five hits, striking out 10 and walking two.
McGINNIS LEADS THE LEAGUE: Adam McGinnis is putting up numbers worthy of Player of the Year consideration in The Summit League... The senior catcher leads the league with a .363 batting average (15-point lead over second place), .469 on-base percentage (leads by 19 points), slugging percentage of .589 – four points higher – and toughest to strikeout (13.3) while also being tied for first with 15 doubles... Among the national leaders, McGinnis ranks 32nd in toughest to strikeout and 47th in on-base percentage... In Summit League-only games, McGinnis' average jumps up to .390. He owns a league-leading .490 on-base percentage, .671 slugging percentage and 11 doubles... McGinnis is not only getting on base frequently, he has drawn 14 walks to just three strikeouts in 82 at-bats.
WESTFAHL MOVING UP THE RANKS: Following his 1.1 innings of work against Iowa, Nate Westfahl fanned three Hawkeyes and earned his fourth save of the year. That now gives the senior left-hander nine saves over his two-year career... Westfahl moved into a tie for second place all-time (Brian Loconsole), and is two away from Tyler Owings' record... In his last 15 appearances, Westfahl owns a 1.53 ERA (0-1 record) and picked up all four saves. He's allowed three runs on 14 hits in 17.2 innings, striking out 21 to just seven walks.
WIN TOTALS: Having won 10 of their last 15, the Leathernecks' 18 victories surpass the total from two years ago... Western won 19 and 21 games (2013, '14) during head coach Ryan Brownlee's first two years... The current 12 Summit League wins are the most since the 2011 and 2008 teams both won 13 games.
LAST TIME VERSUS NDSU: Western Illinois lost two heart-breakers in the ninth inning to North Dakota State during the second week of Summit League play… Mitch Ellis went 4-for-9 while Johnathan Fleek and Adam McGinnis each had three hits… Preston Church earned the win giving up one run on two hits in 8.0 innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters… Javin Drake threw six shutout innings in the finale… Nate Westfahl allowed one run in 4.1 innings but suffered the loss on Sunday… Sam Cottingham-Beard allowed three runs in an inning during the opener… Western lost 7-5 in the opener, after taking a one-run lead into the ninth inning. WIU won game two 5-1 but lost 1-0 in the ninth inning in the finale.
GALASSI NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Drue Galassi (Peoria/Richwoods) batted .647 in four baseball games during the week of April 17, including three home runs and 14 RBI, and the redshirt-freshman outfielder was named Collegiate Baseball National 'Co-Player of the Week' and Summit League 'Player of the Week'... He began the week on a streak of two consecutive base hits in his last two at-bats… Galassi had a record day in the 21-4 win over SIU-Edwardsville, going 5-for-5 with 10 RBI and five runs scored. Two of his five hits were grand slams, setting a WIU single-game record with 10 RBI, two grand slams hit and tying the runs scored record... Galassi continued his hot streak in game one at Fort Wayne, starting 2-for-2 and extending his streak to nine straight base hits... He ended the weekend with six hits, including another home run, to lead Western to a series win... In those four games, Galassi went 11-for-17 at the plate, scored nine runs, posted a 1.353 slugging percentage and .700 on-base percentage.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Adam McGinnis ranks 93rd in batting average (.363). He also ranks 64th in doubles (0.37 p/g), 47th in on-base percentage (.469) and 32nd in toughest to strikeout (13.3)... Ian Koch ranks 22nd in games started (12)... Roman Visintine's League-leading four triples place him 56th in the country.
BACK-TO-BACK HOMERS: Western Illinois accomplished a feat not done since March 2008 when in the first inning of game two at Southeast Missouri as 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… At South Dakota State, it was McGinnis and Galassi again, this time flipped. During game two Galassi hit a solo homer and he was followed by McGinnis' round-tripper… 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.
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.
Adam McGinnis – Player of the Week (May 8)
Pete Minella – Co-Pitcher of the Week (May 8)
FOOTBALL/BASEBALL DUO: Sophomore outfielders Justin Fitzpatrick and Steve McShane begin their second year playing both football and baseball.
   McShane earned Second Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors at running back, finishing with 917 rushing yards (2nd most in the MVFC) and team-leading eight touchdowns. McShane was a MVFC 'Offensive Player of the Week' and Honorable Mention 'National Offensive Player of the Week' following his career-high 207 rushing yards and two touchdowns at Eastern Illinois. It was the first of his three 100-yard rushing games. He added 234 receiving yards on 23 catches and a TD in 11 games.
   Fitzpatrick played in all 11 games last season as a defensive back. He made 19 tackles on the year, 16 of which were solos, and broke up three passes. Fitzpatrick recorded a career-high seven tackles against Northern Arizona and South Dakota State.
TSCHIDA APPROACHING A MILESTONE: Senior Chris Tschida is nearing a milestone, he recorded his 192nd career base hit (193 career games). With eight more hits, Tschida would become just the fourth Leatherneck ever to achieve the 200 level. He currently ranks fourth all-time in hits - trailing: Ryan Schmidgall (232), Dan Dispensa (224) and Jeff Wellwood (203)... His 254 total bases overtook 10th place all-time and he stands fifth all-time in games played.
SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State took over second place by percentage points at 14-10, two victories ahead of Western Illinois… NDSU owns a .248 team batting average, .973 fielding percentage and 3.80 ERA… Mason Pierzchalski owns a .302 batting average with Logan Busch right behind at .301… Reed Pfannenstein leads the team with five wins, followed by four from Luke Lind, Kevin Folman (seven saves, 2.35 ERA) and Chris Choles… Ben Petersen leads with seven homers hit… Four starters (the top four hitters based on average) have 20-plus RBI.
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