MURRAY, KY- The Western Illinois Leatherneck Baseball team picked up their second straight series win this season, defeating Murray State 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. With the series win, the Leathernecks have won back-to-back three game road series for the first time since 2019 when they took two out of three at Oral Roberts on May 4-5 and two out of three on May 16-18 at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Redshirt Senior Frederick Romano (1-0) led the way for the Leathernecks, delivering six strong innings while allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out four and walked two, keeping Murray State's offense in check. Karsten Stotlar took over in the seventh and was lights out, earning his second straight save on the season with three scoreless innings. Stotlar allowed just one hit while striking out one to slam the door on the Racers.
The Leathernecks found timely hits when they needed them most, plating single runs in the third, seventh, and ninth innings. Wandel Campana would get the offense going in the third, getting a one-out single to center field. Krayton Morse would walk followed by Liam Bushey getting hit by a pitch to load the bases for Tyler Large. Large would get walked to give WIU the early 1-0 lead.
After Murray State tied the game at one a piece in the sixth inning, Trevor Leon provided a key RBI double in the seventh, giving WIU the lead at 2-1, scoring Justin Bogard. Paul Osting added an insurance run in the ninth with an RBI single, sealing the victory for the Leathernecks.
The Leathernecks will look to carry their momentum into Tuesday where they will travel to Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM.
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