Friday, April 26
Fort Wayne, Ind.
3:00 p.m.
Purdue Fort Wayne
vs
Western Illinois
Photo by: Lucas Carter
Baseball to Host Western Illinois at Mastodon Field
4/25/2013 9:58:00 AM | Baseball
Live Stats
IPFW Probable Pitching Rotation:
Friday: LHP – Jason Kalber
Saturday Game 1: RHP – Chuck Weaver
Saturday Game 2: LHP – Brandon Pease
Sunday: RHP – Steve Danielak
Western Illinois Probable Pitching Rotation:
Friday: LHP – Aaron Michel
Saturday Game 1: RHP – John White
Saturday Game 2: LHP – Tom Constand
Sunday: RHP – Tyler Willman
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The IPFW baseball team will face Western Illinois this weekend in a four-game series that gets underway on Friday, April 26 at 3 p.m. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and end the weekend with one game on Sunday.
About IPFW (17-18, 5-7 SL)
The Mastodons recently split a four-game series against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies moving their overall record to 17-18 with a 5-7 mark in Summit League competition. IPFW has now split their last four series against league foes after dropping two games in the Summit League opener at Omaha.
Senior shortstop Clay Hathaway was named Summit League Player of the Week on Monday afternoon after hitting .636 against the Grizzlies last weekend. Hathaway improved his batting average to .344 on the year which leads the team and is the third-best average in the Summit League. On the year, Hathaway has recorded eight doubles, three triples, three home runs and 15 RBI's. He is the team leader in runs scored (23), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.528), and on-base percentage (.417). The Show Low, Ariz. product is the only player to start in all 35 games for IPFW.
Newcomers Tyler Shepherd and Brandon Soat have impacted the IPFW lineup in 2013 by hitting over .300 on the season. Shepherd is batting .342 towards the top of the IPFW lineup. He stole seven bases against Oakland to improve his season total to 23. 23 stolen bases leads the Summit League and puts Shepherd in a tie for 13th in the NCAA.
Soat is now batting .315 with four doubles, a triple, and one home run giving him 14 RBI's on the year. The freshman has scored 13 runs and has recorded 32 total bases. He posts a slugging percentage of .438 and an on-base percentage of .393.
The pitching rotation will start with Jason Kalber on the mound for Friday's game. Kalber has made 10 starts for IPFW this season and is 1-4 overall with a 3.59 ERA. The left-hander has three complete games to his credit, one of which was shutout. The senior has recorded 40 strikeouts in 52.2 innings of work and is holding the opposition to a .254 batting average.
Saturday's doubleheader will feature Chuck Weaver on the mound for the seven inning game, followed by Brandon Pease in game two. Weaver is fourth in the Summit League with 44 strikeouts, but control has been an issue as he leads the league with 24 walks. The right-hander enters the weekend with a 2-2 overall record and a 4.63 ERA.
Pease will take the hill for game two on Saturday with an overall record of 1-1. He posts an ERA of 3.89 and is third on the team with 30 strikeouts. Pease picked up his first win of the season over Western Illinois back on April 7.
The final pitcher to make a start this weekend will be junior Steve Danielak who will face the Leathernecks on Sunday at 12 p.m. Danielak has a team-high four wins on the year to go along with three losses. He holds an ERA of 3.79 and has 27 strikeouts in 40.1 innings of action.
Scouting Western Illinois (10-25, 1-7)
The Leathernecks recently improved to 10-25 overall with an 8-1 win over St. Ambrose on Wednesday afternoon. Eight different pitchers took the mound for Western Illinois as the team prepares for a four-game series with the Mastodons.
Two players are batting over .300 on the year for WIU as Jameson Henning leads the way at .321. Henning has five doubles, a triple and a home run to place second on the team in RBI's with 16. The Leathernecks have weapons in the lineup in Dan Dispensa, Brent Turner, and Steve Kedroski.
Dispensa leads the team with four triples and three home runs. He is hitting .250 on the year with 11 RBI's. The team RBI leader is Turner who has 17 to go along with a .254 average and Kedroski adds a punch with a team-high seven doubles to go along with a triple and one home run.
The Leathernecks will put Aaron Michel on the mound in game one. Michel has a 2-1 overall record with an ERA of 1.17. He only has one start to his credit, but has recorded 22 strikeouts in his 30.2 innings of work. Michel has made 15 appearances on the year and has opponents hitting .163.
The doubleheader will feature right-hander John White on the mound for the seven inning game followed by Tom Constand in the nightcap. White and Constand are arguably the top two pitchers on the roster as they lead the team in strikeouts, innings pitched, and games started. White is 1-4 with a 2.96 ERA and Constand posts a 2-3 overall record with a 3.60 ERA.
Tyler Willman will get the start on Sunday. Willman is still looking for his first win of the season as he enters the weekend with an overall record of 0-4 on the mound. The right hander has 30 strikeouts in 32.1 innings, but posts an ERA of 6.96. He faced IPFW earlier this season and struck out seven batters in just four innings.
April 7 Recap IPFW at Western Illinois
IPFW split a pair of games at Western Illinois with a 2-1 loss in game one, followed by a 3-2 win in the nightcap. The Leathernecks scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to grab their win and IPFW came back to break a 2-2 tie with a run in the top of the sixth inning to win game two.
Game one was a pitching duel as the Mastodons were limited to three hits. A strong outing from Steve Danielak kept IPFW in the game, but a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth gave Western Illinois the 2-1 victory.
Danielak threw 5.1 innings and struck out two batters. He allowed three hits which turned into one earned run. The junior was replaced in the game by Connor Lawhead who came in from the bullpen to toss the final 3.1 innings of the game. Lawhead only gave up two hits while striking out two, but he walked two batters.
Clay Hathaway, Caleb Fenimore and Brandon Soat each recorded one hit in game one. Soat put IPFW on the board with an RBI single that allowed Evan VanSumeren to score from second base in the top of the fourth inning.
Neither team could get their offense going after the fourth as the two teams reached the ninth inning deadlocked at 1-1. Fenimore hit a two-out double in the ninth, but Malcolm White was unable to reach base as his groundout back to the pitcher ended the inning.
Game two got off to a quick start as the Leathernecks jumped out in front 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. The Mastodons answered with two runs in the top of the second as VanSumeren doubled down the right field line to lead off the inning and then a Kendall Whitman homer tied the game.
IPFW won the game with a run in the sixth off an RBI single from Soat. Shepherd led off the inning with a single to left and Kristian Gayday joined him on base after being hit by a pitch. Hathaway advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Soat came up with the clutch pinch hit single.
Brandon Pease got the win on mound for IPFW and Connor McLaughlin earned the save. Pease earned his first win of the season after throwing six full innings. He struck out two and did not issue a walk. McLaughlin recorded a strikeout to get the first out of the seventh and a pop up to short put IPFW one out away from a victory. McLaughlin walked a batter and gave up a single which moved the runner to second, but a groundout to second ended the game.
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