Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Justin Foy
Larry Dean

West Meets South in Three-Game Set

Western Illinois travels to Southern Illinois this weekend.

Western Illinois (2-4) at Southern Illinois (3-3)                                               
Date: March 1-2
Site: Itchy Jones Stadium
Game Times:  Friday DH (12 p.m.); Saturday (1 p.m.)

Schedule Adjustment: Instead of three single games, Western will now take on SIU in a Friday doubleheader at 12 p.m. and a single game Saturday at 1 p.m. 

Western's Last Outing: Neither Western Illinois nor Southeast Missouri was going down without a fight as it took 11 innings to decide the series winner. The Leathernecks snapped SEMO's season-opening winning streak with a 9-2 decision Friday, evened things in a 14-2 loss Saturday, and rebounded with a 5-2 extra-inning victory on Sunday. 

•    The slate captured Western's first non-conference series win since 2013
•    Drue Galassi went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs in the series opener; he recorded two bombs all last season
•    The Leathernecks scored a season-high nine runs in game one which was more than the first three games combined
•    The 11-inning showdown saw CJ Schaeffer Jr. break the tie with an RBI-single before Kevin Raisbeck's two-out, two-RBI double cemented the final score at 5-2 
•    Jordan Cheek and Jace Warkentein each picked up a save on the weekend; Cheek after a three-up, three-down 11th inning in the finale
•    Justin Foy was given the starting nod in game three and went 5.0 innings with one hit and one run

Just Javin: In a pair of starts this season, Javin Drake (1-1) commands a 2.45 ERA in 11.0 innings.

As Western's lone starter with a sub-4 ERA last year, Drake's sophomore slate was his best to date. He allowed no more than four hits in each of his previous three starts and had one earned run in each of them. With 50 innings under his belt, Drake managed a 3.96 ERA last year (which ranked sixth in The Summit League) -- significantly lower than the 6.47 ERA he posted in 2017.  

In Relief: The Leatherneck bullpen has been wildly successful in the first two weekends of play. 

Jack Carberry | Credited with the win in the 5-2, 11-inning decision over SEMO; has pitched the most relief innings (9.2) with eight hits, five runs, and seven strikeouts 

Jace Warkentien | Second most relief innings (6.0) and second lowest batting average against (.217)

Jordan Cheek | Pitched 2.0 innings so far and hasn't allowed a hit or run while striking out three

(Razor)beck: Assisting the Western Illinois baseball team to its first non-conference series win since the 2013 season, Kevin Raisbeck was named the Summit League Player of the Week, the league announced Monday (Feb. 25). 

The Leathernecks left Southeast Missouri with the series after Raisbeck delivered a two-out, two-RBI double in Sunday's rubber match to provide Western a little breathing room in the 11th inning. He finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles and crowned the weekend with a team-best .444 batting average. 

Summit League Player of the Week (Feb. 25) 
Kevin Raisbeck, Western Illinois
Jr. | Second Baseman | Beloit, Wis.
• Earned the first weekly honor of his career
• Went 4-for-6 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs in pair of WIU victories last week

On Deck: The Leathernecks' annual Spring Break trip will see it take on Saint Louis (March 8-10) before a two-game matchup with Arkansas (March 12-13), the 2018 College World Series runner-up. 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories