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Western Illinois University Athletics

Baseball
Rachael Keating
15
Winner North Dakota State NDSU 0
6
Western Illinois WIU 0
Winner
North Dakota State NDSU
0
15
Final
6
Western Illinois WIU
0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
North Dakota State NDSU 0 0 1 2 5 3 1 0 3 15 19 0
Western Illinois WIU 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 6 13 3

W: Loven (0-0) L: Fochs, Chandler (0-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Baseball drops home opener to North Dakota State

Three Leathernecks ended with three hits in the loss.

MACOMB ILL.- Western Illinois baseball (0-4, 2-20) fell in the first game at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium to the North Dakota State Bison (4-0, 16-8) by a score of 15-6. Western Illinois led a third of the way through, but the Bison took control with a pair of big innings in the fifth and sixth.
 
Kory Olsen started the scoring off with a bang, blasting a solo home run to left-center in the bottom of the first to give WIU an early 1-0 lead.

Chandler Fochs kept NDSU off the scoreboard in the first two innings, but a walk and infield single gave North Dakota State a pair of runners in the third to set up a fielder's choice RBI to tie the game at 1-1.
 
WIU used three straight singles to load the bases in their half of the third and took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly from Dillon Sears. A leadoff single and wild pitch gave North Dakota State a runner in scoring position to begin the fourth, and another single put runners at the corners. A sacrifice fly and two-out single brought in a pair for North Dakota State to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Bison started the fifth off with two singles and two doubles to drive in two more runs to go up 5-2. After a pitching change by WIU, North Dakota State brought in another pair of runs with a single to take a five-run lead. NDSU capped off its five-run fifth with an RBI single to gain an 8-2 lead.
 
Nick Mitchell and Matt Santarelli led the bottom of the fifth off with a pair of singles, and Mitchell managed to score on a stolen base to get the Leathernecks back within five. A single and two walks loaded the bases for the Bison in the sixth, which they turned into three more runs with a hit-by-pitch and two-run single to go ahead 11-3.
 
After North Dakota State added a run in the seventh, Western Illinois responded in its half of the inning with a pair of runs. Singles from Mitchell and Santarelli put two runners on, and Olsen drove in Mitchell on a double to right-center. A sacrifice fly by Sears gave him his second RBI of the contest to make the score 12-5. Adam Juran added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to get WIU back within six, but a three-run ninth by North Dakota State brought their run total up to 15.
 
The top four hitters all had big games for the Leathernecks, combining for 11 of the 13 hits. Kory Olsen led Western Illinois with a three-hit day, including a solo home run and an RBI double. The home run is Olsen's first at WIU.
 
Freshmen Nick Mitchell and Matt Santarelli also produced three hits for WIU. Mitchell went 3-5 with three runs scored and a stolen base, while Santarelli went 3-5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
 
Dillon Sears finished 2-4 with a pair of RBIs and a stolen base. Sears and Olsen are now tied as the team's RBI leader, each with 14 on the season.
 
The series continues tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT for game two.
 
 
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