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2
St. Thomas UST 7-29
5
Winner Western Illinois WIU 8-35
St. Thomas UST
7-29
2
Final
5
Western Illinois WIU
8-35
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Thomas UST 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 1
Western Illinois WIU 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 X 5 10 2

W: Armstrong, Jake (4-5) L: Retz, W. (1-5) S: Bell, Jack (5)

2
St. Thomas UST 7-30
8
Winner Western Illinois WIU 9-35
St. Thomas UST
7-30
2
Final
8
Western Illinois WIU
9-35
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Thomas UST 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 7 0
Western Illinois WIU 0 1 0 3 2 2 0 0 X 8 10 2

W: Cunning, Eric (1-1) L: Marsh, O. (0-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Sweep Double Header

MACOMB, Ill – Western Illinois Baseball swept St. Thomas in a doubleheader on Tuesday (May 9). A series initially scheduled for March 24-26 saw WIU score early in game one as they would take control, winning 5-2. Western Illinois scoring would continue into game two as the Leathernecks would use six strong innings from Eric Cunning en route to an 8-2 victory.

"Our postseason has started in a sense." Said Interim Head Coach Tayler Sheriff, "We played with a sense of desperation and hit the first steps in a crucial stretch of games."

Game 1
 
Game one saw Western Illinois jump out in front early. Nick Mitchell would continue his on-base streak, getting hit by a pitch to start the inning. Mitchell would move forward 90 feet as Derek Botaletto would draw a two-out walk. Chase VanDerGinst would rope a ball down the first base line for a two-out double, bringing home Mitchell for the first run of the game.

St. Thomas would tie the game at one, but WIU would reclaim the lead in the bottom of the 5th inning. Ricky Pospisil would draw a one-out walk to get himself on base, then use his speed to steal second base. After a strikeout, Jake Allgeyer would hit a single to center field, bringing in Pospisil and giving WIU a 2-1 lead.

Western Illinois would add an insurance run in the 6th inning. After a leadoff single by Adam Juran, J.R. Heavilin would lay down a sacrifice bunt advancing to second base. After that, Juran took it into his own hands. The Leathernecks catcher would swipe third base and come home as St. Thomas would throw the ball into left field. 

St. Thomas would cut the Leathernecks' lead back to one (3-2) in the top of the 7th inning, but WIU responded in the bottom half. Back-to-back singles by Mitchell and Pospisil would start the 7th inning. Botaletto would lay down a sac bunt advancing both runners 90 feet. Jake Allgeyer would walk loading the bases. VanDerGinst would deliver again as he lined a ball into right field for a two-run single, increasing WIU's advantage to 5-2.

"Chase was a spark plug today." Said Coach Sheriff. "Chase has been seeing the ball well and when we are getting production from our back half of the order, we will have a chance to score runs."

Jack Bell would slam the door on the Tommies' chances of a comeback going three solid innings en route to his fifth save of the year.

Game 2

Once again, the Leathernecks would jump out in front in game two. VanDerGinst led off the inning with a single to right. Juran would then bring him home with a one-hop double off the left-field fence giving WIU an early 1-0 lead. 

With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the 4th inning. Jake Allgeyer singled to lead off the inning. WIU would have a leadoff hitter on base in three of the first four innings. VanDerGinst would walk, moving Allgeyer to second base. Jack Sievers would have clutch two-out hitting with a single through the infield's left side, bringing home Allgeyer and breaking the 1-1 tie. With runners on the corners, Sievers would be in motion stealing second base. Kyree Alexander would capitalize with two runners in scoring position singling to left field, bringing in WIU's base runners. Alexander's single would increase WIU lead to 4-1.

The Leatherneck's bats would not cool down in the 5th inning as they would plate two more insurance runs. Pospisil would swipe second base and let Allgeyer bring him in with an RBI single to right field. Juran would bring WIU's sixth run of the afternoon on an RBI ground out that scored Allgeyer pushing their advantage to 6-1.

The Leathernecks would score their final two runs in the 6th inning. Jack Sievers would get hit by a pitch before stealing second base. Sievers would stay in motion as he would come around on two Tommies' wild pitches. Mitchell was the other Leatherneck to score in the inning. Mitchell walked and advanced to third on a Pospisil single. Botaletto would bring him in on an RBI ground out, making the score 8-1. St. Thomas would strike for a run in the top of the 7th inning as WIU would take game two 8-2.

Western Illinois starting pitching was lights out once again. Jake Armstrong took the ball in game one on three days' rest and was lights out. 

"Jake was doing his thing," Sheriff said. "On three days' rest, it was a gutty veteran performance."

Armstrong went 6.0 innings pitched, allowing just two runs on six hits. Armstrong struck out just one Tommie.

Eric Cunning came into game two, not knowing he would start. Western Illinois did not name a starter until after game one, and Cunning stepped up.

"Eric did not have a lot of time to prepare but man did he step up," said Sheriff. "We wanted a guy who was going to pound the strike zone and he did that for 6 innings. He kept the fastballd own and produced weak ground balls."

Western Illinois bullpen followed suit with their starting pitching. Jack Bell, Tyler Kapruan, and Cam Howard appeared out of the bullpen in the two games. The three Leathernecks combined for six innings allowing just one run well, striking out four. Both Bell and Howard would go multiple innings of scoreless baseball.

"We have gotten five quality starts in a row from our starters, which makes it a little easier on our bullpen." Said Sheriff, "But those guys have been coming in and filling it up, and that is what it takes."

The Leathernecks tallied 20 hits as a team over the two games. Chase VanDerGinst led the team with five total hits. Jake Allgeyer and Rick Pospisil were right behind him, with four as a team. WIU drew eight free passes via the walk and was hit by a pitch four times. 

Western Illinois made their presence known on the base paths as they swiped ten stolen bases over both games.

"I was encouraged by the way we ran the bases." Sheriff said. "To be effective we have to run the bases and be able to get an extra 90 feet when we can. We got guys to second base and the big hits knocked them in."

Western Illinois and St. Thomas will continue their six-game set this weekend in St. Paul. WIU will be the home team on Friday night, finishing up the three-game set scheduled for late March. St. Thomas will take the home team role for the series' final three games. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
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