No. 2 Leathernecks Begin Summit League Tournament Wednesday

Western opens tournament play against No. 3 North Dakota State (25-22, 15-13 Summit) Wednesday at 12 p.m.

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MACOMB, Ill. – Preseason polls projected the Western Illinois baseball team to miss the Summit League Tournament. The Fighting Leathernecks not only defied the odds, but they did so in dramatic fashion with the No. 2 seed.

Western opens tournament play against No. 3 North Dakota State (25-22, 15-13 Summit) Wednesday at 12 p.m. The double-elimination tournament continues with two games Thursday, and one game Friday. The championship game(s) will take place Saturday, and the winner claims The Summit League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The tournament will be hosted at Oral Roberts. Games contested Wednesday-Friday can be seen on www.thesummitleague.org with Saturday's championship game on www.yurview.com. All games will be streamed free of charge.

Last Outing
When it rained, it poured, both on the field and on the scoreboard, as Western Illinois' baseball team battled Mother Nature and Kansas Sunday (May 20) at Hoglund Field. The game ended in seven innings, 19-6, in favor of the Jayhawks and marked the regular season finale for both squads.

Alex Dorethy and CJ Schaeffer homered, and Ben Sellers was the lone pitcher not to allow a run. He closed the game with season-highs in strikeouts (4), and innings pitched (2.0).

Summit Finale
Western closed its Summit League schedule at Omaha with its sixth series win of the year.

• Pitching in relief, Sam Cottingham-Beard picked up his first win this season in a 12-8 decision; Ryan Dunne was credited with the success in the 4-1 opener
• Eight out of 10 Leathernecks who received an at-bat recorded at least one hit; Deion Thompson led the team with five and six RBIs
• The Leathernecks led Omaha 4-0 until the sixth inning of game two; the final result was a 7-4 setback
• Western has a series win over all five Summit League competitors this season

Summit League Tournament
The Leathernecks secured the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Summit League Tournament for the 11th time in program history. They finished 14-12 in league play to tie their best win total since 2006 when the team went 14-8.

Hitters Gonna Hit
Deion Thompson crushed two home runs in the series win at Omaha, and both occurred in the seventh innings. He currently guides the Leathernecks in nearly every hitting statistic: runs (28), hits (45), doubles (9), homers (6), RBI (30), stolen bases (16) and total bases (72).

Save It
The Leathernecks often look to their senior pitcher Colan Borchers to close games. He ranks third in the Summit League with a career-best five saves while also recording a career-best 1.16 ERA. Borchers has held the opposition hitless in five appearances and has given up four runs all season.

Just Javin
As Western's lone starter with a sub-4 ERA, Javin Drake is pitching his best season yet. He's allowed no more than four hits in each of his last three starts and has one earned run in each of them. With 50 innings under his belt, Drake manages a 3.96 ERA (currently ranked sixth in the Summit), significantly lower than the 6.47 ERA he posted a season ago.

Koch'N
Ian Koch continues to be a force in Western's starting rotation with a 4.18 ERA in 79.2 innings pitched. The totals rank seventh and sixth in the Summit League, respectively.

The right-handed junior also has 75 strikeouts on the season which ranks third in the league.

Consider It Dunne
In his inaugural Leatherneck campaign, Ryan Dunne leads the league with 93 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched. He's averaging 10.78 Ks per game, dealing nine in each of his last three starts and a career-high 10 versus Oral Roberts (April 7).

The Right Time
When comparing numbers between league and nonleague action, CJ Schaeffer has been a force against Summit foes.

His batting average improves from .283 overall to .353 in league play. Before Western's three-game set at Omaha, Schaeffer was hitting a league-leading .395 in Summit action. Thirty of his 41 hits have occurred in league play.

The catcher also leads the Summit in runners caught stealing (18).

Keep It Going
Senior shortstop Johnathan Fleek has two seasons under his belt at WIU, and in that time he has never missed a game. He is the lone Leatherneck to start every game this year and is currently managing 37 hits with 12 RBIs. He commands one of the toughest positions in baseball with a career .965 fielding percentage.

100
Head coach Ryan Brownlee recorded his 100th career win in the Leathernecks' 6-3 decision over Fort Wayne. He joined Western before the start of the 2013 season and currently ranks fourth all-time in program history in wins.

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Players Mentioned

#16 Colan Borchers: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#22 Alex Dorethy: INF/P; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; L/L

#44 Javin Drake: P; 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R

#35 Ryan Dunne: P; 6' 3"; Senior; R/R

#3 Johnathan Fleek: INF; 5' 7"; Senior; R/R

#23 Ian Koch: P; 6' 4"; Junior; R/R

#5 CJ Schaeffer Jr.: C; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#36 Ben Sellers: INF/P; 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L

#24 Deion Thompson: INF; 6' 1"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#16 Colan Borchers
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#42 Sam Cottingham-Beard
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#22 Alex Dorethy
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; L/L
: INF/P

#44 Javin Drake
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#35 Ryan Dunne
: 6' 3"; Senior; R/R
: P

#3 Johnathan Fleek
: 5' 7"; Senior; R/R
: INF

#23 Ian Koch
: 6' 4"; Junior; R/R
: P

#5 CJ Schaeffer Jr.
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: C

#36 Ben Sellers
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L
: INF/P

#24 Deion Thompson
: 6' 1"; Junior; R/R
: INF