Game Day Info
Lindenwood (14-18, 2-7 OVC) vs. Western Illinois (8-22, 3-6 OVC)
April 10-12 | St. Charles, Mo. | Lou Brock Sports Complex
 
Game 1 | Friday at 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2 | Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3 | Sunday at 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats
 
LEADING OFF
The Lindenwood baseball team hosts Western Illinois this weekend to continue conference play, as the Lions look to build on last week's series win over Southeast Missouri. LU enters Friday's contest one game back of the Leathernecks in the OVC standings, currently sitting in ninth place with a conference record of 2-7.

NOTES TO KNOW

• Lindenwood enters the weekend with an overall record of 14-18 with a 10-9 record at home. They are 2-4 in home OVC matchups.
• Lindenwood is batting .242 as a team this season, which is the lowest average the OVC. The Lions are hitting .244 in conference play and .246 during the month of April so far. They are batting .235 with runners on base and have stranded 238 on the bags this season.
• Jake Radosevich is batting a team-best .318 and paces the club with 35 hits, 28 RBIs, seven homers.  In conference play, he is batting .462 (6-13) with an on-base percentage of .500. He leads the squad with nine multi-RBI games and is currently enjoying the team's longest active reached base streak (11 games) and hitting streak (7 games).
• Charlie Isom-McCall is leading the Lions with 10 multi-hit games this season, including four three-knock outings. He is batting a team-best .467 when leading off.
• Will Geary leads the team in stolen bases with 17 swiped bags on 20 attempts. LU's 64 total stolen bases are third most in the OVC.
• The Lions have a staff ERA of 4.30, which is lowest in the OVC. They also lead the league with four shutouts. The Lions' .261 batting average against is third lowest in the league In conference play, LU has an ERA of 4.96 with a .299 batting average against, giving up 43 earned runs on 93 hits.
• Lindenwood's three weekend starters all possess top four ERAs in the OVC. Josh Newell leads the pack with a 2.08 ERA, which is second best in the conference, while leading the league with a 52.0 innings pitched. He is followed by a Seth Benes (2.53 ERA) and Lucas Niemeyer (2.61 ERA)
• Benes leads the team with 40 strikeouts, which is fourth most in the conference. His .205 batting average against is second best in the OVC among qualified arms.
• Aaron Jungers has been LU's go-to guy out of the bullpen. The senior has a 1.65 ERA with 27 strikeouts through 27.1 innings pitched.

SERIES NOTES

• Lindenwood is 3-4 all-time against Western Illinois but took two of three against the Leathernecks in Macomb last season, with LU dropping the series finale to snap a three-game winning streak against WIU.
• The losing team has scored one or fewer runs in the last six meetings between the two programs, with Lindenwood limiting WIU to three total runs through three games last season.
• Western won the series' inaugural and singular non-conference contest 17-10 in 2023. The Leathernecks are 2-1 in St. Charles.

SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS

• Western Illinois enters this weeekend with a record of 8-22. They are 3-6 in conference play with a 2-15 record on the road.
• The Leathernecks are batting .277, which is the third lowest average in the OVC.
• Wandel Campana leads the Leathernecks with a .356 batting average while Joe Conolly leads the team in hits (40) and runs (40). Liam Bushey provides the power with a team-leading 10 homers and 36 RBIs.
• WIU's staff ERA of 8.21 is third highest in the OVC. They are allowing an opponent batting average of .316, which is second highest in the league.
• Max Tripure is 2-2 with a team-best 4.85 ERA through a team-high 42.2 innings pitched. He also leads the squad in strikeouts with 36.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• Josh Newell was most recently named Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week following his dominant performance on the mound in Lindenwood's 3-2 victory over Southeast Missouri on April 2nd.
• The senior was completely dialed in, tossing 8.2 innings of shutout ball before a two-out error in the ninth extended the game and allowed a pair of unearned runs to come across. Newell was still able to finish the job to secure the 3-2 win for Lindenwood and notch his first complete game of the season. He finished the outing with a 0.44 WHIP, allowing just three hits with one walk while matching his season-high with five strikeouts.

WEEKEND REWIND

• Lindenwood took two of three against Southeast Missouri last weekend to secure their first OVC series win of the season.
• Jake Radosevich and Tyler Ellis both recorded four hits in ten at-bats to lead the Lions in the series. Radosevich drove in two runs to match Kam Edwards and Filip Sarota for the team lead in RBIs.
• Lindenwood's 13 hits in their 7-1 game three victory were their most in a single game this season. LU outhit SEMO 27-23 in the series.
• The Lions hit .273 for the series, including a .382 average with runners on base.
• The Lindenwood pitching staff combined for a three-game ERA of 2.00, allowing zero earned runs in games one and three.
• The Lions limited the Redhawks to a .228 batting average while registering 21 strikeouts.
• Lucas Niemeyer picked up his first career win with a five-inning start in game three in which he allowed zero runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits – Jake Radosevich (35)
RBI – Jake Radosevich (28)
Home Runs – Jake Radosevich (7)
Strikeouts – Seth Benes (40)
Wins – Josh Newell (4)

UP NEXT
Lindenwood travels to SLU on Tuesday for a 5:00 p.m.  first pitch before heading to Morehead State for more OVC action. Game one against the Eagles is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, April 17th.