ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lindenwood baseball team (17-18, 5-7 OVC) completed the series sweep against Western Illinois (8-25, 3-9 OVC) with a 3-2 win in 14 innings on Sunday afternoon. It marks the Lions' first sweep of an OVC opponent this season as they have now won five of their last six conference games.
The contest also tied the program record for innings played in the Division-I era, matching last season's 12-11 win over Bradley.
Easton Rakers got the win for Lindenwood after tossing three shutout innings to finish the game. Meanwhile, starter
Lucas Niemeyer allowed just one run on four hits through the first 5.1 innings before giving way to
Aaron Jungers, who surrendered one run on five hits with three strikeouts through 5.2 innings of relief.
Charlie Isom-McCall led the Lindenwood offense with three hits, two runs and an RBI in the contest.
Will Geary,
Filip Sarota, and
Sam Driscoll also recorded multiple hits with two knocks each.
How it Happened
Following a scoreless first inning, Lindenwood took their first lead in the second as
Kam Edwards scored from third on an
Owen Ralph RBI ground out after a throwing error by the Western Illinois shortstop had allowed Edwards to move to third after advancing to second on a balk.
Western immediately responded in the top of the third with Kamryn Link drawing a leadoff walk and moving into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before a Josh McClintock double to left field tied the score.
The Lions punched back in the home half of the inning with a
Charlie Isom-McCall leadoff home run to left field to put Lindenwood up 2-1. It was Isom-McCall's third homer of the season.
Following scoreless fourth and fifth innings, WIU moved a pair of runners into scoring position in the top of the sixth following a leadoff walk and Isaiah Monge one-out double down the left field line, but
Aaron Jungers entered the game and recorded two quick outs to prevent any runs from coming across.
However, the Leathernecks would find a way to plate the tying run in the top of the seventh, with Krayton Morse doubling and moving to third on a McClintock single before scoring on a fielder's choice.
Western would move a runner into scoring position in the eighth but were unable to plate the go-ahead run, and after another scoreless frame in the ninth, the game headed to extras.
In the bottom of the tenth,
Sam Driscoll reached base on a leadoff infield single and stole second to move into scoring position with no outs and the top of the Lindenwood order at the plate. However, the Lions were unable to bring him home after a pop out, ground out, and strikeout stranded Driscoll at third.
The Leathernecks moved a runner into scoring position three times during extras, with their best scoring opportunity coming in the top of the 14th following a Liam Bushey leadoff double, but they were never able to break through for a score.
After 10 innings without a run,
Charlie Isom-McCall led off the 14th with a bunt single before tagging up and moving to second on a
Jake Radosevich flyout down the right field line. With two outs,
William Zareh delivered the winning swing with a base hit up the middle that allowed Isom-McCall to reach home safely from second base. It was Zareh's second walk-off hit of the season, adding to his walk-off grand slam against Murray State on March 15th.
Next Up
Lindenwood travels to SLU on Tuesday for some midweek action against the Billikens at 5:00 p.m. before heading to Morehead State for another pivotal OVC series next weekend. Game one against the Eagles is set for 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday, April 17th.
