WIU Baseball Set to Battle Saint Louis and Northern Kentucky

Monday, March 04, 2024 | By: WIU Athletic Communications

Who | Saint Louis | Northern Kentucky
Where | Saint Louis, MO | Highland Heights, KY
When | Mar. 5 | Mar. 8-10
Social Media | Instagram & Twitter

Last Time Out
Western Illinois picked up their first series win of the year, taking two out of three games against Eastern Kentucky. After Friday's game was postponed due to weather, the Leathernecks squared off against the Colonens in a doubleheader on Saturday. After finding themselves down 3-0, WIU stormed back for five unanswered to take the opening game 5-3. WIU fell in game two 4-0 but returned on a mission in the rubber match, defeating EKU 5-3.

King of K's
Caden Kratz had a dominant weekend out of the bullpen, picking up two saves. 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.

Leading the Pack
Western Illinois' offense was one of the OVC's best this past weekend. Maxton Polad and Cesar Franco both crack the top seven, hitting .400. Franco leads the league with a 1.000 slugging percentage, with teammate Adam Juran (.700) in fourth. Polad is second in doubles with five and Kyree Alexander and Juran sit second in triples with two.

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 on the year for the most single-season wins at that time and second most today and 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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