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Derek Botaletto
Sarah Ritter

Leathernecks Resume Play at Omaha

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

WIU and Omaha begin the series on Friday (April 30) at 6 p.m.

Who | Western Illinois (9-20, 5-11 Summit) at Omaha (15-16, 7-5 Summit) 
When | Friday (April 30) at 6 p.m. - Saturday (May 1) at 6 p.m. -  Sunday (May 2) at 1 p.m.
Where | Tal Anderson Field - Omaha, Neb. 
Watch | Mavs All-Access
Social Media | Twitter + Facebook #TRADITIONofTOUGH

First Pitch | The Western Illinois baseball team resumes activities and travels to Omaha this weekend for the first matchup against the Mavericks. 

Headlines 
  • Western's rotation this weekend is scheduled for Jace Warkentien, Chandler Fochs, and Brian Raymond.
  • Kevin Raisbeck has continued to bat over .300 all season, he also sits in the top ten in multiple categories in the league - second in stolen bases (11), sixth in batting average (.313), ninth in OBP (.398). He has reached on-base 17 straight games for every Summit game this season and has gotten on every game but one this season.
  • Trenton Bauer is also hitting .313 and leads the team in hits (36), doubles (7), RBI (20), and slugging (.374).
  • Both Toby Allred and ChaseVanDerGinst hit their first career home runs as a Leatherneck this season.
  • Jace Warektien tied his career-high of 10 strikeouts against the Bison on April 9. He has  totaled 26 punchouts in his last four starts. 
  • Brett Sears tossed a complete-game shutout - 7 IP, 3 H, 3 SO - against South Dakota State on Friday (March 26) to earn his first career Summit League Pitcher of the Week honor. This is the second time a Leatherneck starter has thrown a complete-game shutout -  Chandler Fochs (March 13 vs. Saint Louis), who also earned SL POW. 
  • Omaha holds the all-time series 25-14 as the two sides last met in the 2019 Summit League Tournament with the Mavs pulling away 15-9.
  • The 14-inning game at NDSU on April 11, tied the program record which was last set vs. SDSU on April 12, 2018, and resulted in a walk-off grand slam for the Leathernecks.  
Scouting the Opposition | The Mavericks sit third in the Summit at 7-5 in league play… their series at Oral Roberts was canceled last weekend… in league play so far they have split series vs. NDSU and SDSU and took a series earlier this season against South Dakota State… the Mavs have beat #22 Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas this season... Chris Esposito leads them and ranks second in the league batting .351 and tied for the lead in home runs (6). 

Last Time Out | Western Illinois (9-20, 5-11) closed out the weekend against North Dakota State (22-8, 11-5) with a 14-inning marathon that ended with a walk-off 6-5 victory for the Bison.

Leatherneck pitching was lights out in extra innings with the duo of Jack Carberry and Jackson Gray only allowing one combined hit through the 13th inning and facing only 13 batters across the four innings. 

The host capitalized in the bottom of the 14th after a leadoff single and fielder's choice plated the winning run in scoring position. North Dakota State knocked a bloop single into right field for the walk-off win, 6-5.  

On Deck | WIU heads to Oral Roberts the following weekend (May 7-9) and concludes the 2021 regular season at homa vs. Omaha (May 20-22). 
 
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