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Ninth inning dooms Leathernecks in 11-9 loss to Oakland

July 11, 2008 on 4:08 am | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - A seven run ninth inning cost Western Illinois a Summit League victory as Oakland took the series finale 11-9, Sunday afternoon.

With a 9-4 lead in going into the ninth, the Leathernecks (7-17, 1-3 The Summit League) turned the ball over to Todd Nelson, relieving starter Ben Percival, in search of their second conference win of the year. The Golden Grizzlies (5-12, 3-1 The Summit League) started a rally with consecutive singles. An error at short allowed one run to cross the plate. After a single up the middle loaded the bases, Andrew Stafford belted a Grand Slam to tie the game, 9-9. Justin Eissens came on and was able to record two outs but not before Oakland had two runners on base. A line drive to right center hit off the glove of Brett Pendell and allowed the winning runs to cross the plate for the Golden Grizzlies.

“It was totally my call to pull Percival out,” said Western Illinois head coach Stan Hyman of the pitching change. “Nelson had been our closer and hadn’t been getting innings. Percival probably could have trotted out for the ninth but it was my call.”

Western jumped out quickly to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Jared Wolf singled to right field to start the inning. Pendell reached on an error and Kenny Price drew a walk before Drew Laidig ripped a two-RBI single back up the middle. Cooper Stewart delivered a RBI-single and James Bina followed with a sac fly for the four run first.

In the third inning, Oakland cut the lead in half by plating a pair of unearned runs off of Percival. Adding single runs in the fourth and fifth innings made the score 4-4.

The Leatherneck offense recorded single hits in the second through fifth innings, and came back to life in the bottom of the sixth. Cole Waddell collected his second base hit to lead off and advanced to second on a T.J. Kistner sac bunt. Kyle Surprenant pulled his third hit of the game to left, bringing in Waddell with the go-ahead run. A double to the right-center gap by Wolf plated Surprenant, and with two-outs Price ripped his second double of the game down the left field line to give Western a 7-4 lead.

Laidig collected his third and fourth RBI of the game in the bottom of the eighth as his double down the right field line allowed Wolf and Price, who had both walked, to score and give the Leathernecks a 9-4 lead heading into the ninth inning.

“I think we had more quality at bats, particularly early on,” Hyman said of the offense. “When the top-five are hitting, everybody else is. Surprenant came through at the bottom of the order. We hit the lefties pretty well and it was just really disappointing that the bullpen couldn’t close it out today.”

The four errors in the game marked the second straight contest Western had committed four errors. Today, they led to four unearned runs, including three in the ninth inning.

“We have talent but continue not to play well and not make plays when it matters,” stated Hyman. “Right now we are not a team who is contending. We cannot lose three-out-of-four at home in this fashion and think we’re going to contend. We’re booting the ball away in the key situation, making the bad pitch and giving away too many runs.”

The weekend series wrapped up with the Leathernecks making 11 errors defensively. At the plate, 30 runners were stranded on base and batters hit into five double plays.

“I think after this game and series, we have to take a different approach for the rest of the season. We will rebuild. We are just not getting it done with how we’re doing things. It’s hard for me to swallow my pride and say this is not the team that I thought it was. Right now we’re going back to the drawing board, playing some of the younger guys and see what we’re going to do.”

Western hits the road for a mid-week matchup with Oklahoma State. The first of two games will be played at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 8.

Originaly from Source