Leathernecks Kick Off Road Trip At Oklahoma

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois baseball team kicks off a 10-day road trip with a weekend series at Oklahoma.

The Leathernecks travel to Norman, Okla., for a three-game weekend series with the Sooners. Western is 1-10 all-time against Oklahoma with the lone win coming in 2004, when OU was ranked 18.

After the set with the Sooners, the Leathernecks head to California for four consecutive days of games during spring break.

Big 12 Week
The three games against Oklahoma this week will be the first of nine scheduled contests against the Big 12 Conference. Western was supposed to play at No. 18 Missouri, March 4, but the game was canceled due to weather.

Sooner State = Western Territory
The Leathernecks will not be alone this weekend in Oklahoma. The men’s and women’s basketball teams will be competing at The Summit League Championships in Tulsa at the same time.

Deuces Wild in Opener for Newcomers
Newcomers Lorenzo Gallaga, Tyler Metcalf and Kenny Price all recorded two hits in their first games in uniform for Western. Metcalf and Price each recorded an RBI while Gallaga scored one run for the Leathernecks.

Pendell Starts Strong
Senior Brett Pendell, who finished second in batting in the Mid-Con last year, started off the year by hitting .333 in the first two games and collecting two RBIs.

Stranded Runners
The two loses for Western to start the season off came by one run each. The Leathernecks had opportunities in both games as they left 19 total runners on base over the two games.

Strike Outs
In his first outing of the year, Mark DiBernardo struck out six batters in just four innings pitched. He was second in strikeouts on the team last season with 48.

Ranked Opponents
Western’s schedule this season features 22 games against preseason nationally ranked opponents (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper).

Collegiate Baseball Awards
Junior transfer Tyler Metcalf was named Preseason Summit League Co-Player of the Year. The Wamego, Kan., native comes to Western from Barton County C.C., where he was a Jayhawk All-Conference selection last season after starting 49 games at third base. Seniors Todd Nelson, Brett Pendell and Frank Zenisek, along with junior Kenny Price were all named to the preseason Summit League All-Star Team.

Zenisek Top Prospect
Zenisek has been projected as one of the top-three MLB Draft prospects out of the Summit League. He was the only league pitcher named to the list by Baseball America.

Preseason Poll
The Leathernecks were picked to finish second in The Summit League preseason poll. Western has finished in the runner-up spot the previous four seasons to Oral Roberts.

Familiar Faces
Head Coach Stan Hyman welcomes two additions to his coaching staff in 2008. Macomb native Brock Bainter joins the staff after five seasons of coaching at Macomb High. Also joining the staff this year is former player Matt Newquist.

Two-Sport Athlete
After handling duties as the starting punter for football during the fall, Chris Fuchs will be a part of the Leatherneck’s pitching staff this season. The freshman out of Pembroke Pines, Fla., was one of just five true freshman that earned a letter during the football season.

Rewriting the Record Books
The 2007 Leathernecks did something never accomplished before at Western Illinois by winning 30 games for the second straight season. The 63 victories over the past two seasons exceeded the previous back-to-back wins total by eight games. Western’s 31-26 record last season also was the first winning record for the program since 1989.

Hyman Coach of the Year
The 2007 season saw Stan Hyman bring home his second Mid-Con Coach of the Year award at Western. The 11-9 mark in conference play gave the Leathernecks their fourth-straight finish of second place in the Mid-Con.

Road Warriors
Last year, for the first time in school history, Western Illinois recorded a winning record on the road. This was no small feat with a schedule featuring nationally-ranked opponents such as Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The road slate this year should prove to be just as challenging with the first 15 games of the season away from Macomb.

Western’s Single-Season Record Book
Seven different players etched 14 new spots on single-season top-10 lists at Western last season. Those include Pendell, who had the most runs scored (57), the second-most hits (78), tied for fourth-most doubles (18) and the seventh-most total bases (105). T.J. Kistner tied for eighth all-time in walks (32) as well. Bryan Faulds (4) fell just one save short of tying the single-season record, while his teammate Nelson (3) was right behind him. Nelson also moved in a tie for eighth on the wins list (7).