LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois dropped a three-game series at North Dakota State, losing a pair of three-run games... Adam McGinnis batted .375 on the weekend with a .583 on-base percentage... Johnathan Fleek went 4-for-12 with two runs driven in... Mitch Ellis also drove in a pair of runs... The defense committed just two errors all weekend, a .982 fielding percentage... Connor Rektorski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief in two appearances... Nate Westfahl pitched a scoreless inning.
SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: Since Omaha lost all three games at Oral Roberts last weekend, Western Illinois qualified for The Summit League Tournament... The Leathernecks currently stand as the fourth seed and would face ORU in the opening round... Western last qualified for the postseason tournament in 2014, advancing to the championship game that year after winning the first round game, losing round two and eliminating SDSU the next game... In 2013 Western captured the opening round game but lost the next two... Western appeared in the postseason tournament in Tulsa from 1998-2000, 2003, 2005-06 and 2009.
NUMBERS SINCE 0-11: Since starting the year 0-11, Western is 18-17... Adam McGinnis leads the offensive output at .372 batting average with 13 doubles and five homers. He owns a .497 on-base percentage and .603 slugging mark in that span... Mitch Ellis jumped his average to .339, followed by Johnathan Fleek (.331)... Drue Galassi (.298) and Steve McShane (.297) are close to the .300 mark... Nate Westfahl (0-1, 1.45) has four saves in 16 relief appearances... Pete Minella made his first career weekend start in game three at North Dakota State. He is 3-1 with a 1.52 ERA (first earned runs allowed in Summit League) and five saves... As a team Western owns a .274 batting average, .967 fielding percentage and 4.30 ERA... During this hot hitting span Western has had four players and a pitcher named Summit League 'Player of the Week' - Chris Tschida (.258), Ellis, Galassi, and 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 76 bases in 46 games, 21 more than the next closest (Oral Roberts)... The 76 steals rank WIU 26th nationally and the 1.65 per game average puts the team 22nd in the country... The team remains balanced up and down the lineup in steals - Deion Thompson (10-of-13) and Drue Galassi (9-of-11) as the top two ranked Leathernecks, tying for fifth and ranked seventh, respectively, among The Summit League leaders. Western has eight players ranked in the 'Top 22' (minimum six stolen bases).
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 .364 batting average (17-point lead), .476 on-base percentage (26-point lead), slugging percentage of .584, and toughest to strikeout (14.0) while also being tied for first with 16 doubles... Among the national leaders, McGinnis ranks 27th in toughest to strikeout, 28th in on-base percentage, 78th in batting average and 69th in doubles per game... In Summit League-only games, McGinnis' average jumps up to .389. He owns a league-leading .500 on-base and 12 doubles while ranking second with a .656 slugging... McGinnis is not only getting on base frequently, he has drawn 17 walks to just three strikeouts in 90 at-bats.
MINELLA MAKING AN IMPACT: Sophomore Pete Minella made his first weekend start at NDSU in the finale, and his fourth start this year... Minella has an overall ERA of 4.18, but over his last 15 appearances owns a 1.52 ERA, giving up five earned runs over the 29.2 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .193 against the sophomore.
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 16 appearances, Westfahl owns a 1.45 ERA (0-1 record) and picked up all four saves. He's allowed three runs on 16 hits in 18.2 innings, striking out 21 to just seven walks.
WIN TOTALS: 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.
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 27th in toughest to strikeout, 28th in on-base percentage, 78th in batting average and 69th in doubles per game... Ian Koch stands 20th with a Summit League-leading 13 starts... Roman Visintine is 60th in triples (Summit League leading four)... The teams is tied for 96th in double plays per game (0.83).
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)
TEAM NOTES:
- Ian Koch needs 3.0 innings pitched to tie for 10th place on the season 'Top 10'. The sophomore needs 11 strikeouts to join a three-way tie for ninth.
- Western has 12 pickoffs this year, led by five from Ian Koch, three by Matthew Sturchio and two from catcher Adam McGinnis.
- Starters who have at least 135 at-bats all have at least four stolen bases. Steve McShane (7 in 70 at-bats), Cord Church (6 in 84 at-bats) and Conner Currier (4 in 80 at-bats).
- Preston Church (5-13, 4.04 ERA) has 133 career strikeouts in 151.2 innings pitched, leader in both categories among active players.
- Adam McGinnis surpassed 100 career runs scored (101). He is four RBI shy of 100... McGinnis nearly has as many walks (61) to strikeouts (63) in his four-year career.
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 193rd career base hit (196 career games). With seven 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 255 total bases overtook 10th place all-time and he stands fifth all-time in games played.
McGINNIS CRACKS TOP 10: Senior Adam McGinnis broke into three career 'Top 10' categories, looking to move up the leaderboard. McGinnis enters this series tied for ninth with 175 career hits, he is 11 away from fifth place. With 181 career games, he is two away of joining a tie for sixth place. His 33 doubles move into a share of ninth place all-time.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Oral Roberts is coming off an 11-7 victory over Oklahoma State on Tuesday night... ORU clinched a share of the regular season title and clinched the top seed in next week's tournament... The Golden Eagles owns a Summit League-leading .293 batting average, in addition to top numbers with: 101 doubles, 61 home runs, 335 RBI and .461 slugging percentage... Noah Cummings leads the team with a .340 batting average, followed by Nick Roark (.328), Dylan Snypes (.322) and Cal Hernandez (.313)... Brent Williams has hit a Summit League-leading 16 home runs, followed by Cummings with 13... Miguel Ausua owns a 9-2 record and 1.99 ERA in 72.1 innings pitched... Josh McMinn (8-3, 1.91) and Justin McGregor (8-0, 2.55) have ERAs under three... Kyler Stout has nine of the team's 13 saves.
LEATHERNECKS TO HONOR SENIORS: Western Illinois will honor nine members of the program this weekend as part of Senior Day activities... Carson Cheesman, Cord Church, Preston Church, Conner Currier, Adam McGinnis, Matthew Sturchio, Chris Tschida, Roman Visintine, and Nate Westfahl will get honored pre-game in addition to groundskeeper manager Grant Davis.
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