Oklahoma State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Western Illinois
March 14, 2000 | Cowboy Baseball
March 14, 2000
Setting The Scene:
Oklahoma State looks to get back into the swing of things after
taking an unscheduled week off when the Cowboys host Western Illinois for a
two-game series. The Pokes and Leathernecks will tangle Tuesday and
Wednesday at 3 p.m. Both contests will air on the Cowboy Baseball Radio
Network (93.7 KSPI) with Rex Holt (play-by-play) and former OSU standout
Ryan Folmar (analyst) calling the action.
About Western Illinois:
The Leathernecks are 1-13 overall, and have dropped their last ten
contests including a three-game sweep last weekend at Texas-Pan American.
Western Illinois has played all 14 of its contests on the road and will play at Illinois after the OSU series before playing its first game at home on Mar. 22.
Shortstop Tony Defazio leads the squad with a .333 batting average to go along with two homers and six RBIs. As a team the Leathernecks are batting .231 while the pitching staff holds a 9.25 ERA.
The Leathernecks two-man rotation will be righthander Nathan Rueter (0-3, 7.36 ERA) on Tuesday and southpaw Chris Donahoe (0-4, 6.10 ERA) on Wednesday.
Western Illinois head coach Kim Johnson is in his second year as the pilot of the Leathernecks program and has posted a 15-48 record during that span.
The Series:
The two teams only meeting occurred in 1998 with OSU coming away
with a three-game sweep.
Last season the teams were scheduled to play two games but it was was cancelled due to rain.
Series Results (1998)
| April 10 | Oklahoma State 7, Western Illinois 6 | |
| April 11 | Oklahoma State 13, Western Illinois 7 | |
| April 12 | Oklahoma State 19, Western Illinois 7 |
On The Hill:
Oklahoma State will send junior Josh Merrigan to the mound on
Tuesday with Frank Bludau pitching in relief, while Clint Salisbury will
make his first start as a Cowboy on Wednesday. Salisbury picked up the win
against Missouri Southern last Tuesday. He pitched four and two-thirds
innings of scoreless relief to improve to 2-1.
| Day | No. | Name | G/GS | Season Stats |
| Tue. | 32 | Josh Merrigan (L) | 5/5 | 3-1, 4.09 ERA, 13 SO, 22 IP |
| Wed. | 25 | Clint Salisbury (R) | 6/0 | 2-1, 7.07 ERA, 15 SO, 14 IP |
