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Western Illinois University Athletics

WIU Baseball
5
Winner Western Illinois WIU 2-11
2
Belmont BEL 6-9
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
2-11
5
Final
2
Belmont BEL
6-9
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 10 1
Belmont BEL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 1

W: Armstrong, Jake (2-1) L: BEAN, Andy (0-3) S: Bell, Jack (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

WIU Snaps Losing Streak Against Belmont

Armstrong picks up win No. 2 in pitching gem

MACOMB, Ill – Western Illinois Baseball team snapped their ten-game losing streak on Friday (Mar. 10) night against the Belmont Bruins. The Leathernecks followed a strong pitching performance from senior Jake Armstrong to take the 5-2 victory.

"It felt good to get the monkey off our back," said Interim Head Coach Tayler Sheriff. "We had great energy today; it was a good team win."

WIU fell behind early in game one of the three-game series. The Bruins struck for one run in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly to give them the early 1-0 lead. After both teams went scoreless in the second inning, WIU would get the offense going. Derek Bottaletto would start the inning with a leadoff double to get himself into scoring position. Nick Mitchell would advance him to third on a ground out. Ricky Pospisil would do the rest. A sacrifice fly to right field would tie the game at one. WIU would keep the offensive pressure on as Jake Allgeyer would single, and then J.R. Heavilin would double to left field to drive him in.

The bottom of the third is when Jake Armstrong started to deal. The senior would walk the first two but get a fielder's choice, strikeout and ground out to create a string of retiring 15 straight Bruins. 

"Armstrong was good today. After we got the lead, he settled and was nails," Coach Sheriff said, "He was throwing strikes and really kept them off balance."

The Leathernecks would help their pitcher in the top of the 4th. Mitchell would launch a ball into the right-center gap with runners on the corners and leg out a two-run RBI triple.

Armstrong would lock it down from there. He would get a ground out, fly out, and strike out swinging to sit Belmont down in the fourth: two flyouts and a strikeout in the fifth. Two fly balls and four straight ground outs helped Armstrong go four consecutive one-two-three innings. The Leathernecks had chances to extend their lead. In the fifth, Allgeyer started the inning with a leadoff double. Heavilin then walked to put two runners on with no outs. They both would advance 90 feet on a wild pitch, but WIU could not bring them around.

Belmont would get a run back in the eighth after a WIU error. Belmont would get two ground outs to advance their runner to third and then have an RBI single to bring the score to 4-2. WIU would get that run right back in the ninth. Mitchell would get leadoff the inning with his second extra-base hit of the night. Pospisil would lay down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance Mitchell. The Belmont pitcher would throw the ball into the dirt, getting by the first basemen. The error allowed Pospisil to get to second base and Mitchell to score WIU's fifth run of the evening.

The Bruins would threaten in the ninth, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate, making WIU head to their bullpen with two outs. Jack Bell came into the game and got a huge strikeout to pick up his first save of the season. "Jack was huge," Coach Sheriff said, "He came in, made good pitches, and earned the save." 

Armstong went a strong 8.2 innings, allowing one earned run well, striking out six Bruins, and earning his second win. Armstrong threw 127 pitches, with 79 of them being strikes. Jack Bell made his ninth appearance of the year, picking up save number one. Bell came in and faced one batter getting the strikeout.

WIU batters collected ten hits on the night. Nick Mitchell, Jake Allgeyer, J.R. Heavilin, and Derek Botalleto had multiple hits. All four also had at least one extra-base hit. Western Illinois walked twice and was hit by a pitch once.

The Leathernecks are back in action on Saturday (Mar. 11) for game two of a three-game series against the Belmont Bruins. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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