MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois baseball team is set to make its first Summit League Tournament appearance since 2011. The Leathernecks will head to Rochester, Mich. this weekend (May 23-25) to play in the double elimination tournament with hopes of winning its first Summit League Tournament Championship in program history.
The Purple & Gold will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will take on No. 1 seed South Dakota State in first round action. Western finished the regular season 18-35 overall and 9-17 in league play, while the Jackrabbits finished 31-21 overall and 16-10 in conference play.
The other first round match-up will feature No. 2 Oakland (20-33, 15-13) and No. 3 North Dakota State (24-25, 11-13).
THE SCHEDULE:
(All times CDT)
May 23
Game 1: #4 Western Illinois vs. #1 South Dakota State 11 a.m.
Game 2: #3 North Dakota State vs. #2 Oakland 2 p.m.
May 24
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 9 a.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 Noon
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 3 p.m.
May 25
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 * 3 p.m.
* If necessary
COVERAGE:
Live Audio: Rocky Vision (Free Broadcast)
Play-by-Play: Sean Ingrassia
Live Video: ougrizzlies.com
Live Stats: ougrizzlies.com
Twitter: @WIU_Baseball
Click HERE to view the official tournament page.
SCOUTING THE FIELD: #1 South Dakota State: The Jackrabbits enter the tournament with the No. 1 seed and a 31-21 overall record. SDSU finished conference play with a 16-10 mark and will be the No. 1 seed for just the second time in school history. Earlier this season in Macomb the Jackrabbits won three of four games in a rainy weekend series at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. Daniel Telford leads the Jacks in batting average with a .427 mark in 35 games played this season. Telford has 41 hits, 31 RBI and 20 runs scored. Layne Somsen brings a 4-4 overall record into the tournament with a 1.91 ERA in 75.1 innings of work on the mound. Somsen also has a team best 73 strikeouts in his 12 appearances. The head coach of the Jackrabbits is Dave Schrage who is in his second year at the helm.
#2 Oakland: Oakland enters the tournament fresh off of a weekend sweep vs. Western Illinois last weekend in Rochester. The Golden Grizzlies have the No. 2 seed and a 20-33 overall record and 15-13 conference mark. Mike Brosseau has a team best .278 batting average this season with 40 hits and 19 runs scored. On the mound Tim Koons has a 4-5 record with 69 K's in 85.2 innings. The head coach of the Golden Grizzlies is John Musachio who is in his sixth season.
#3 North Dakota State: The Bison have a 24-25 overall record and 11-13 conference mark. NDSU was swept by the Leathernecks in the only meetings of the year between the two teams from May 10-12. The Bison do enter the tournament fresh off of a four-game sweep of Fort Wayne last weekend in Fargo. Tim Colwell has a .310 batting average this season with 62 hits and 38 runs scored to lead NDSU. John Straka has a 7-2 overall record on the mound and a 1.86 ERA. Straka has 84 K's in 97.0 innings of work. The head coach of the Bison is Tod Brown who is in his sixth season in Fargo
LAST TIME OUT: Western took on Oakland in the final regular season series of 2013. The Golden Grizzlies won all four games, with each game being decided by one run. Two of the four wins came off of walk off hits in the bottom of the ninth inning for OU. The four wins completes the series sweep for Oakland and gives the Golden Grizzlies a 12-game winning streak over Western Illinois dating back to 2011.
IN THE LEAGUE: Aaron Michel leads the league in ERA with a 1.25 average and is tied for fifth in appearances with 20. Brian Loconsole also has 20 appearances and is tied for second in the league in saves with eight. Tyler Willman leads the league in K's per nine with a 9.27 average. Dan Dispensa leads the league in triples with six this season. Zack Burling is sixth in the league in batting average with a .312 mark and is tied for third in stolen bases with 15.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: Aaron Michel currently sits at sixth nationally in ERA with his 1.25 average. Michel also has a 5.31 hits allowed/nine average, which is the third best in the nation. Dan Dispensa is 16th nationally in triples with six and 21st in triples per game with a 0.12 average. Tyler Willman is 51st in K's per nine with his 9.27 average. The Leathernecks as a team have a 7.1 K's per nine average which is 80th best nationally.
TOURNAMENT PLAY: The Leathernecks have qualified for the Summit League Tournament for the first time since 2011 when they were the No. 3 seed. Western fell to Oral Roberts in game one of the 2011 tournament 12-0 and North Dakota State in game two 5-3. Before 2011, the Leathernecks last qualified for the conference tournament from 2003-08. Overall the Purple & Gold are 13-33 in conference tournament play dating back to 1984.
FRESH FACES: Fighting Leatherneck baseball has seen quite a few first year players stand out on the field in their first season at WIU. JUCO transfers Zack Burling, Neil DeCook and Tanner Glore finished the regular season with three of the top four batting averages on the team. Burling hit a team best .312 during the regular season while DeCook and Glore hit .304, respectfully. On the mound JUCO transfer John White appeared in a team best 77.0 innings for the Purple & Gold this season.
SAVE KING: Brian Loconsole is now the single season and career saves leader at Western Illinois after picking up his record eighth save vs. North Dakota State on May 11. Loconsole notched all eight saves during the 2013 regular season to set both records. The Carol Stream, Ill. native also has a 3-2 mark this season and 21 strikeouts in 26.2 innings of work.
TRIPLES RECORD: Senior Dan Dispensa hit his sixth triple of the season last Thursday (May 16) at Oakland to move into a tie for first place for most career triples at Western Illinois with 14. The Chicago native is now tied with Steve Jeffers (1983-86) for most triples all time. Dispensa is also tied for third on the single season records list with his six triples in 2013.
DISPENSA RECORD WATCH: Dispensa is currently in sole possession of 2nd place for most hits at Western Illinois with 220 in his career. Dispensa is also on the career 'Top 10' list in runs scored (124-5th), triples (14-T1st), total bases (301-5th), walks (89-2nd) and games played (198-4th).
WEEKLY HONORS: Aaron Michel became the third Leatherneck pitcher this season to receive Summit League 'Pitcher of the Week' honors after his performances vs. Saint Ambrose and at Fort Wayne.The lefty appeared in eight total innings during the week and had eight strikeouts. Senior pitcher Brian Loconsole was named Summit League 'Pitcher of the Week' after picking up two saves during the Michigan series earlier this year. Sophomore pitcher Mason Pingel was named Summit League 'Co-Pitcher of the Week' following his performance in the opening weekend win at #1 Arkansas. Redshirt-freshman Jameson Henning was selected as a "Primetime Performer" by collegebaseball360.com following his performance during the opening weekend at Arkansas.
FIRST YEAR RECORD: Leatherneck baseball first year head coach Ryan Brownlee now has the most wins for a first year Western Illinois baseball head coach with 18. Brownlee eclipsed the old mark of 15 wins set by Dick Pawlow in 1970.
FIRST WIN: The first win of the 2013 Western Illinois baseball season came in the third game of the season at #1 Arkansas. The Leathernecks took down the Razorbacks 7-5 for the first win of 2013, and the first win of the Ryan Brownlee coaching era. The win was also the first in program history over a top-ranked team in the nation. The previous highest ranked team beaten by the Leathernecks was Missouri in 2008, the Tigers were ranked #4 at the time of the 5-3 Leatherneck win.
AT THE HELM: Ryan Brownlee is in his first season as the head coach of the Fighting Leatherneck baseball team. Brownlee officially began his coaching duties on October 2, 2012. The former Iowa assistant coach brings 15 years of Division I experience to Western Illinois. He spent his last nine years as a member of the Hawkeye coaching staff as an assistant and recruiting coordinator. Before Iowa, Brownlee was an assistant at James Madison for four seasons.
PRESEASON POLL: The Leathernecks were selected to finish in fourth place out of six teams in the preseason poll. North Dakota State was picked to win the conference, receiving five first place votes and a total of 25 points. South Dakota State placed second with 17 points, followed by Oakland in third with 16 points. The Leathernecks received 15 points to finish in fourth place in the voting. Rounding out the preseason voting were Fort Wayne in fifth place with nine points, and conference newcomer Omaha in sixth place with eight points.
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