Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

WIU Baseball
4
South Dakota State SDSU 7-17
14
Winner Western Illinois WIU 4-21
South Dakota State SDSU
7-17
4
Final
14
Western Illinois WIU
4-21
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
South Dakota State SDSU 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 8 0
Western Illinois WIU 0 1 0 5 0 0 2 6 14 12 1

W: Kapraun, Tyler (2-4) L: Hawkins (0-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

WIU Baseball Beats South Dakota State

Leathernecks draw 13 walks in 14-4 victory.

MACOMB, Ill – Western Illinois Baseball team defeated the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Saturday (Apr. 8) afternoon at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. The Leathernecks would draw 13 walks and have 12 hits en route to a 14-4 eight-inning victory.

Western Illinois got their offense going early in the 2nd inning. Ricky Pospisil would draw the first out of 13 walks WIU would draw on the day. After a Chase VanDerGinst single, Pospisil and VanDerGinst would advance 90 feet off an SDSU wild pitch. Adam Juran would drive in the opening run of game two as he would ground into a fielder's choice giving WIU the early 1-0 lead.

After South Dakota State tied the game in the top of the third, Western Illinois would break the game open in the bottom of the 4th. VanDerGinst and Juran would both have back-to-back one-out singles. Aron Harrington would get hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Max Slavens would drive in VanDerGinst on an RBI single to left center.

"The bottom half of our lineup really picked up the slack." Interim Head Coach Tayler Sheriff said. "To get a good performance from the bottom half of our lineup today was a big difference maker."

Western Illinois would keep tacking on runs in the 4th inning as Nick Mitchell would follow up Slavens single with a double to the left-center fence. That double would plate two giving WIU the 4-1 lead. Derek Botaletto would add a fifth run for WIU as he would single to left field, driving in Slavens. The Leathernecks would add their fifth run of the 4th inning as Jake Allgeyer would ground out, bringing home Mitchell and increasing WIU's advantage to 6-1.

"Derek has really been coming on lately," said Sheriff. "Ever since conference play, he has been swinging it well. He had a three hit day yesterday and another three hit day today."

WIU would add their final eight runs in the 7th and 8th inning. In the 7th WIU, Pospisil and VanDerGinst would strike again. After a one-out walk to Pospisil, VanDerGinst would triple down the left field line bringing home Pospisil and extending WIU's lead to 7-4. Harrington would add another run for the Leathernecks as he would single through the right side of the infield to bring home VanDerGinst. WIU would add the final six runs in the bottom of the 8th. The Leathernecks would bat around as they drew eight walks in a row scoring five runs. The six-run 8th inning would put WIU in front by ten, ending the game early due to the 10-run rule.

"This game was important to our group in a morale sense." Coach Sheriff said. "This weekend series has serious implications on postseason play and we put ourselves in a position to go win a series tomorrow."

Western Illinois starting pitching got it done for the second day in a row. Tyler Kapraun got the start for the Leathernecks going 6.0 innings and allowing just one run on six hits. Kapruan also struck out four in his outing.

"Kapruan was great today," said Sheriff. "He got himself into some jams, but he made big pitches and big times to help himself out. It was exactly what we needed."

Western Illinois' entire lineup was finding a way to get on base today as every hitter in the lineup found their way to first base safely, and every batter who started the game crossed home plate. Derek Bottaletto led the way for the second straight day in the hit column. The senior from Omaha knocked in three hits to go along with his one RBI. Mitchell, VanDerGinst, Juran, and Harrington all had two hits that day. Nick Mitchell led the team with three RBIs. WIU walked 13 times as a team, had 12 hits, and stole two bases.
Print Friendly Version