NORMAL, Ill. - A pair of freshmen shined on the mound in a Tuesday (March 9) night midweek battle between Western Illinois (2-7) and Illinois State (4-6).
The Leathernecks fell 1-2 in a walk-off against the Redbirds in the 10th inning as WIU has fallen in back-to-back walk-offs.
"We did a great job of working out of some jams throughout the game, and we had a lot of quality at-bats and hard-hit balls today, but that's just how the game is sometimes," head coach Andy Pascoe said. "Sometimes things just don't fall your way. We still need to do a better job of throwing strikes and eliminating free bases."
Jacob Greenan was given the nod for his first career start, and the freshman shined. The right-hander threw four innings and limited the opposition to one hit with four strikeouts. The Peoria, Illinois, native pitched out of multiple jams, including rolling an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the fifth. ISU scored one unearned run on Greenan in the second to tie the game (1-1) as he didn't allow a hit until the fourth.
After starting the season 0-14, Diego Munoz couldn't have asked for a better first hit of the season. The third baseman launched a shot over the left-field wall for the first Leatherneck home run of the year and gave WIU a 1-0 lead in the second.
Western outhit the in-state rival 8-4 as Trenton Bauer and Kevin Raisbeck knocked their team-leading 12th hit. Chase VanDerGinst knocked two, including a bunt single in the third. WIU had its best chance to retake the lead in the seventh as they had runners on first and third, but a double play ended the threat.
Another newcomer on the mound also had a dominant night in Will Jaynes. The freshman pitched two shutout frames with a strikeout to maintain his 0.00 ERA in two appearances this season.
Jack Carberry was the final arm of the pen and threw three scoreless frames with three strikeouts to total his team-leading 10.
Western Illinois heads to Saint Louis for a weekend series against the Billikens on March 12-14.
