Leathernecks Head to Big 12, Big 10 Country

Monday, March 11, 2024 | By: WIU Athletic Communications

Who | Cincinnati | Iowa
Where | Cincinnati, OH | Iowa City, IA
When | Mar. 12-13 | Mar. 15-17
Social Media | Instagram & Twitter

Last Time Out
Western Illinois fell to both Saint Louis and Northern Kentucky last week. On Tuesday, WIU took on Saint Louis for the fourth time this year as they lost 14-4. The Leathernecks headed back to Kentucky for the second time this year. After taking two out of three from Eastern Kentucky last weekend, WIU dropped all three games to Northern Kentucky.

Power Five Week
Western Illinois is set to take on two power five opponents over their next five games. The Leathernecks start with two games against Cincinnati on Tuesday and Wednesday. WIU travels west this weekend to Iowa City to battle the Hawkeyes in a three-game series. WIU went 0-8 against Power Five schools last season.

King of K's
Caden Kratz had a dominant weekend out of the bullpen, picking up two saves against Eastern Kentucky. Kratz dealt a total of 3.0 innings, striking out six well and not allowing a walk. With the two saves on the weekend, Kratz moves to three saves overall.

Player of the Week
Western Illinois catcher Adam Juran has been named Ohio Valley Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday (Feb. 19) afternoon. This is Western Illinois and Juran's first honor since joining the OVC.

Juran started the season red-hot from both the offensive and defensive sides. In the batter's box, he hit .333 with a pair of home runs. Juran also posted three walks well, batting a 1.611 OPS on the weekend. Juran led the team with ten total bases, two home runs, 1.111 slg%, and 1.611 OPS. Juran posted a 1.000 FLD% on the defensive side with 13 putouts and three assists. Well, throwing out three baserunners, including a strike-them-out throw-them-out to end Friday's game.

Big First Win
With Western Illinois 6-5 over Austin Peay, Head Coach Terry Davis earned his first win as a skipper of Western Illinois. Davis is the first head coach since 1955 to start his Leatherneck coaching career 1-0.

New Era
Western Illinois Athletics joined the Ohio Valley Conference on Jul. 1. They became the 11th member to join the conference and have had every team transition to the OVC as of Jan. 1.

Raising Money
The Leatherneck Baseball team got the spring 2024 season off to a great start, raising more than $18,000 at their First Pitch Dinner on Feb. 3, 2024. The event at Park Place of Macomb brought together the community, Leatherneck baseball alumni, and the 2024 team and coaching staff to support the baseball program. The money raised is allocated to various aspects of the baseball program, including upgrades to training facilities, equipment, and new software to aid player development and recruiting. Western Illinois Athletics and the Leatherneck Baseball team would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to all those in attendance at this year's event.

50th Anniversary
Western Illinois Baseball will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1974 Hall of Fame team this season. The 1974 team went 31-12 in the year for the most single-season wins at that time and second most today. It concluded the campaign with a trip to the NCAA Division II Mideast Regional. The postseason appearance marked the first-ever for WIU baseball. This team is arguably one of the greatest Leatherneck Baseball teams to ever step on the diamond.

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