LAST TIME OUT: Johnathan Fleek and Roman Visintine combined for five RBI, all coming with two outs, and eight pitchers combined to help defeat Iowa 7-5 at home on Tuesday... Pete Minella (3-0) earned the win, pitching two shutout innings to start the game... Nate Westfahl recorded three strikeouts in his 1.1 innings of work to move into a share of the team lead with four saves... Fleek matcehd a season-high of three hits and set a new high of three RBI.
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 - the final two weekend series... 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 in Tulsa.
NUMBERS ON THE RISE: Since starting the year 0-11, Western is 17-12 following the 7-5 win against Iowa... Adam McGinnis' .370 batting average leads the way as five starters are hitting .300 or higher - with the team posting a .290 hitting clip... The defense owns a .967 fielding percentage while the pitching staff ERA stands at 3.51 in the 29-game span... Ian Koch leads with five victories, followed by Preston Church, Pete Minella and Javin Drake with three wins each... Minella shares the team lead with four saves... Nate Westfahl also has four 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.
DIAMOND STEALING: Western continues to lead The Summit League in stolen bases, by a wide margin... The Leathernecks swiped 68 bases in 40 games, 24 more than the next closest (Oral Roberts)... The 68 steals rank WIU 27th nationally and the 1.70 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 sixth (8-of-10) in The Summit League. Western has 10 players ranked in the 'Top 26' (minimum four 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 .361 batting average (five point lead over second place), and his .472 on-base percentage leads by 32 points over the next closest... Among the national leaders, McGinnis ranks 47th in on-base percentage... In Summit League-only games, McGinnis' average jumps up to .391, and his lead widens to a 19-point lead over second place. He owns a league-leading .500 on-base percentage and he's tied for first place hitting nine doubles... McGinnis is not only getting on base frequently, he has drawn 13 walks to just two strikeouts in 69 at-bats.
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 four saves in 15 appearances with a 4.56 ERA. However, if you look at Western's success over the last 29 games, Minella's ERA drops to just 0.86 in 13 games (three starts). The left-hander has allowed two runs on 11 hits in 21 innings, striking out nine to just three walks, while opponents are batting .149... In eight Summit League appearances (four saves), Minella has not allowed a run in 12.1 innings, scattering three hits, striking out four and walking two.
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 14 appearances, Westfahl owns a 1.23 ERA (0-1 record) and picked up all four saves. He's allowed two runs on 12 hits in 14.2 innings, striking out 18 to just five walks.
WIN TOTALS: Having won nine of their last 12, the Leathernecks' 17 victories match 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 11 Summit League wins match the most since the 2011 and 2008 teams both won 13 games.
LAST TIME VERSUS SDSU: Western Illinois opened up its series against South Dakota State three weeks ago winning the first two games 7-2 and 8-4 before losing the finale 13-5... The final two games were played as a doubleheader on Saturday due to possible inclement weather... Adam McGinnis (3 runs/4 RBI) and Deion Thompson (4 runs/2 RBI) both went 5-for-12 at the plate while Drue Galassi finished 4-of-10... Mitch Ellis also had five hits in the series (5-of-13) as the team hit .291 but South Dakota State batted .333 as a team... Western stole 3-of-4 bases... Ian Koch (2 runs/5.2 IP) and Preston Church (3 runs/6.0 IP) both earned the pitching wins.
GALASSI NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Drue Galassi (Peoria/Richwoods) batted .647 in four baseball games druing 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 100th in batting average (.361). He also ranks 100th in doubles (0.34 p/g), 47th in on-base percentage (.472) and 34th in toughest to strikeout (13.3)... Ian Koch ranks 27th in games started (11)... Johnathan Fleek ranks 96th being hit by a Summit League-leading 10 pitches... Roman Visintine's League-leading four triples place his 40th in the country... Chris Tschida leads the team with four sacrifice flies, ranking 95th nationally.
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… 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.
TEAM NOTES:
• Deion Thompson saw his career-high 9-game hitting streak come to an end at Illinois State. He is, however, on a current 11-game reached base streak.
• Adam McGinnis has reached base in 27 consecutive games. He leads the team with 15 multi-hit games. He recently hit his 30th career double.
• Drue Galassi was riding a career-best 7-game hitting streak before coming to an end against Iowa. He ranks third in The Summit League with a .569 slugging percentage... He's second on the team with 13 multi-hit games.
• Drue Galassi and Steve McShane have tied or broken four single-game records this year - all in the past three weeks.
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 191st career base hit (190 career games). With nine 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 253 total bases overtook 10th place all-time and he stands fifth all-time in games played.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: South Dakota State enters the weekend 10-11 in The Summit League, currently in fourth place... Nick Smith leads the hitting attack at .346 followed by Matt Johnson (12 doubles/9 HR/.317 BA) and Newt Johnson (.313/12 doubles)... Chris Halbur leads the team with seven saves, in addition to his 0.41 ERA. In 16 relief appearances he has allowed one runs on 12 hits in 22 innings, walking five and striking out 24... Bryce Hanson, Derek Feige and Ryan Froom all have three pitching victories... SDSU is batting .273 as a team with a .965 fielding percentage and 4.27 ERA.
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