IW baseball falls at Western Illinois

MACCOMB, Ill. - The Iowa Wesleyan baseball team had its hands full on Tuesday, playing a road game at Western Illinois University, a Division 1 school. The Tigers fell 16-3 in their last road game before conference play.

IW put the pressure on early, loading the bases with nobody out. Nick Salas hit an RBI single to give the Tigers a 1-0 but the next two Tigers struck out and a fielder's choice ended the threat with only one IW runner crossing home plate.

Western Illinois responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, and then added three in the third and one more in the fourth to take an 8-1 lead.

IW cut the lead to 8-3 in the top of the fifth inning, with Salas coming through once more. He hit a two-RBI double down the line to bring home a pair of runs.

The Leathernecks scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and tacked on five more in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers couldn't plate anymore runs.

Salas finished the day 2-2 with a double and three RBIs. He had the only extra-base hit of the day for IW. Justin Klug went 1-3 with a run scored. Joe Mitchell scored one run, and both Brandon Howell and Trey Sherrill finished the day with one hit.

Six different pitchers threw in the game. Clayton Lathen was tagged with the loss, throwing two innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out one batter. William Hlady gave up three earned runs over one inning. Mitchell Wilcox gave up one earned run in one inning of work. Charles Shockley gave up three unearned runs over one inning. Nick Fencle gave up four unearned runs without getting an out, and Kobe MacPherson gave up one unearned run over one inning.

The Tigers fell to 2-8-1 on the year. They are at home today (Wednesday) for their home opener, which is a doubleheader against Greenville University. The first game has a 1 p.m. start time, and it is also the first SLIAC game of the season for IW.