West Central Reporter

The Western Illinois baseball team faced a challenging game against the University of Iowa, resulting in an 11-1 defeat on Friday night. This loss brings the Leathernecks' season record to 4-12.

The game began with promise for Western Illinois as their offense showed early potential. Chris Hege managed to reach first base after a misplay by the Hawkeyes. Liam Bushey continued his strong performance at the plate with a single, putting runners on base in the first inning. However, Iowa's pitching secured two strikeouts and a groundout, preventing any runs from scoring.

Jason Buhl had a solid start for Western Illinois, achieving a strikeout and maintaining a scoreless first inning. The deadlock persisted until the third inning when Western Illinois scored first. After Hege walked and Bushey singled, Adam Juran also walked to load the bases. Kyree Alexander then hit an infield single that brought in one run.

Iowa responded swiftly by taking the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third inning and maintained control for the rest of the game. Despite several scoring opportunities throughout, including loaded bases situations in both the fourth and fifth innings, Western Illinois could not capitalize due to defensive plays by Iowa.

Iowa expanded their lead with consistent scoring across subsequent innings—one run in the fourth, four in the fifth, three in the sixth, and another in the eighth—securing their victory in this opening match of a three-game series.

Liam Bushey contributed significantly by going three-for-four at bat. Chris Hege reached base twice through walks while combining with Bushey for three hits out of six at-bats plus two walks collectively contributing to one run scored. Kyree Alexander recorded multiple hits alongside an RBI during his two-for-three performance while Adam Juran marked Western Illinois's sole extra-base hit via his fifth-inning double.

The series between Western Illinois and Iowa is set to conclude tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at noon.