Western Illinois Baseball picked up their biggest win of the season on Tuesday night by taking down the Iowa Hawkeyes, the leaders of the Big Ten, by a final score of 7-3. With the win, the Leathernecks snap an 11 year drought as their last win on the road versus a Big Ten opponent came on April 15, 2014 when they defeated Iowa by a score of 8-6.
Harrison Dubois got the starting nod tonight, limiting the Hawkeye offense to just two hits. Dubois pitched three innings, giving up no runs and striking out two. The Leathernecks would waste no time getting on the board to start the game as Liam Bushey and Krayton Morse would hit the first pitch that they saw for singles to put runners on first and second. Following a walk by Paul Osting, Tyler Large would pick up an RBI on a fielder’s choice to put WIU in front 1-0 in the first inning.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Leathernecks would add on to their lead. After back-to-back walks and Kenneth Perez getting hit by a pitch, WIU would have the bases loaded with nobody out for Brock Lummus. Lummus would come through for the Leatherneck offense as he would send an 0-2 pitch the other way for an RBI single through the right side making it a 2-0 game. On the following at bat, Kyree Alexander would walk with the bases loaded allowing Large to score to put the Leathernecks in control. Later in the inning, Perez would come around to score on a wild pitch making it a 4-0 game through 4.5 innings. The Hawkeyes would get a run back in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 4-1 game after five.
WIU would continue to add on to their lead in both the seventh and ninth innings however. In the top of the seventh, Kenneth Perez would lead off the inning with a double to left center and would come around to score on a Kyree Alexander RBI double to left field. Cordell Coburn would then pick up an RBI on a groundout to the shortstop, making it a 6-1 game. In the top of the ninth, Brock Lummus would lead off the inning with a walk and came around to score on a wild pitch to give WIU a 7-2 lead heading into the final half of the ninth inning.
As a team, WIU drew eight walks which highlighted their patience at the plate. Kenneth Perez and Kyree Alexander both went 2-4 from the plate to lead the offense. Perez had a double and two runs scored while Alexander added a double of his own and two RBI.
The bullpen for the Leathernecks was sharp all night, pitching the final 6 innings of the contest. Jackson Rodgers would enter the game in the bottom of the fourth inning to pick up his second win of the season, evening his record to 2-2. The 6’3″ Sophomore from Glen Carbon, Ill would hold Iowa to just one run on five hits over 2.1 innings. Karsten Stotlar would then get the call, pitching 1.1 innings allowing one run on one hit and striking out three. The final 2.1 innings of the game was all Billy Humphrey, who had a season-high five strikeouts, allowing three hits and one run.
WIU now returns home for a three-game series with the Lindenwood Lions beginning on Friday. It is Alumni weekend in Macomb and first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday.
***Courtesy of Western Illinois University***
