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6
Winner Western Illinois WIU 3-11
5
Belmont BEL 6-10
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
3-11
6
Final
5
Belmont BEL
6-10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 6 15 1
Belmont BEL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 5 10 0

W: Kapraun, Tyler (1-2) L: ZUGER, Jordan (1-3) S: Bell, Jack (2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Pick Up Back To Back Victories

Offense shines in 6-5 victory

MACOMB, Ill – Western Illinois Baseball team took down the Belmont Bruins on Saturday (Mar. 10) afternoon. The Leathernecks tallied 15 hits en route to a 6-5 victory. WIU has won back-to-back games for the first time since March 2021.

"I am proud of the resiliency of this group," said Interim Head Coach Tayler Sheriff. "They trust the process and are continuing to earn opportunities to win.

The Leathernecks jumped out in front first this afternoon as Max Slavens drove a ball past the diving right fielder getting to the wall for a one-out triple. Jake Allgeyer would drive him in on a ground ball to give WIU the early 1-0 lead.

Belmont put the pressure right back on in the bottom half of the first. Two base hits would put the tying run in scoring position, but Tyler Kapraun would force a ground ball and get the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Both teams would go scoreless in the second inning, keeping the game at 1-0. The Leathernecks would get a leadoff single in the third, but a double play erased any offensive threat. Belmont would tie the game in the bottom of the third with a solo shot.

WIU would put up a crooked number in the fourth inning. Western Illinois would put their first two batters on base as J.R. Heavilin, and Ricky Pospisil would have back-to-back singles. Derek Botaletto would move them 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt setting the stage for Brian Erbe. Erbe would deliver a double down the right-field line, scoring Heavilin and Pospisil. Kyree Alexander would extend the lead to 4-1 with an RBI single to left field.

"Offense did a really good job today," said Sheriff. "They stuck with their approach and were spraying it all around the field."

Belmont would cut the lead to two in the bottom of the fourth, but WIU would get the run back in the fifth. Nick Mitchell would have a leadoff double and come around to score on an Allgeyer opposite-field single. 

WIU pitching would lock it down for the next few innings. Kapruan would get a one-two-three fifth inning and only see four batters in the sixth. Cade Herrmann would come in for Kapraun in the seventh, and he would dominate. Herrmann would throw eight pitches, getting all three outs on flyouts to retire the Bruins in order.

"I was proud of the work our pitching staff and defense did today," said Sheriff. "We trusted our scouting report and executed a lot of good pitches."

The Bruins would give a test to that defense in the eight innings. Belmont loaded the bases with one out making WIU head to reliever Jack Bell. Bell, who picked up the one-out save in game one, came into game two getting a strikeout for the second out. After getting ahead in the count 1-2, Bell would get a fly ball to center to end Belmont's scoring threat.

WIU would add a huge insurance run as Sammy Contacos would jump on a 1-0 pitch and drive it deep over the left field fence, extending WIU's lead to 6-2. Belmont would make the game interesting in the bottom half of the ninth as they would plate three runs before Western Illinois could hold on for a 6-5 win.

WIU offense was in full force as six Leathernecks tallied multiple hits. Mitchell, Slavens, Erbe, and Contacos all had extra-base hits. Jake Allgeyer had two RBIs on his stat line. WIU, a team, walked one time and stole one base. 

Tyler Kapraun picks up his first victory as a Leatherneck moving 1-2 on the year. Kapruan went 6.0 innings allowing just five hits and two runs and had two strikeouts. Herrmann and Bell would do the rest as they would combine for 3.0 innings, walking just one and striking out one. Bell picks up a second save of the year.

Western Illinois will look to get its first series sweep since 2019 on Sunday (Mar. 11). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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