MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois Softball team returns to action this weekend when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to take part in the Tiger Invitational at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Fighting Leathernecks (0-5) are looking to rebound after dropping each game at the Iowa State Cyclone Invitational last weekend in Ames, Iowa. Western Illinois will face four different teams this weekend in Auburn, Campbell, McNeese State and Western Carolina.

The Leathernecks have never faced any of the four teams they will meet this weekend. The Tiger Invitational marks the first outdoor competition of the season for Western Illinois after it played all five games indoors at the Cyclone Invitational.

The Matchups
Who: Western Illinois (0-5) vs. McNeese State (1-4)
When: Friday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
Location: Auburn, Ala.

Who: Western Illinois vs. Western Carolina
When: Friday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.
Location: Auburn, Ala.

Who: Western Illinois vs. Auburn (4-0)
When: Saturday, Feb. 19 at 12:30 p.m.
Location: Auburn, Ala.

Who: Western Illinois vs. Campbell (4-2)
When: Sunday, Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m.
Location: Auburn, Ala.

Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
Live WIUS radio broadcast (free)

Live Stats • AuburnTigers.com (free)

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS: McNeese State enters the weekend with a 1-4 record after competing in the Getterman Classic at Baylor University last weekend... the Cowgirls lost their first four games before downing UT-San Antonio on Sunday by a score of 4-0... Claire Terracina leads the team with a .385 batting average... she was an All-Southland Conference Honorable Mention last season after starting in all 65 games... she finished third on the team in batting average (.335) and second in runs (36) and stolen bases (30)... as a team, the Cowgirls are hitting .286 while their opponents are batting .523... the McNeese State pitching staff has allowed 29 runs on 41 hits in 39.0 innings pitched... Meagan Bond leads all pitchers with three starts and a 1-2 record... she currently carries a 4.29 ERA... the Leathernecks have never faced McNeese State.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS: Western Carolina enters the Tiger Invitational with a 6-0 record... the Catamounts have been dominant to this point in the season... they have won five of their six games via the run-rule... Western Carolina has scored 10 or more runs in five of their first six contests... the Catamounts have outscored their opponents 72-11 this season... Erin Foster leads the team with 12 RBI and two home runs... Western Carolina won all four games of the North Carolina Central Tournament in its opening weekend... the Catamounts also won both games of a doubleheader at South Carolina State on Wednesday.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Auburn enters the weekend's action with a 4-0 record after sweeping its way through the All-Alabama Classic last weekend... the Tigers defeated Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Samford and Troy... Auburn is batting .327 as a team and has outscored its opponents 25-5 on the year... the Tigers are led on offense by freshman Morgan Estell who is batting .571 with two homers and three RBI... sophomore Kelsey Cartwright also has two homers and three RBI and is batting .333... Lauren Guzman and Amber Harrison have each driven in five runs... Auburn's pitching staff is led by Lauren Schmalz who is 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA on the year... as a staff, the Tigers have allowed just four earned runs in 26.0 innings... they have recorded 34 strikeouts and issued just five walks while holding opponents to a .126 batting average... the Leathernecks have never faced Auburn.

SCOUTING THE CAMELS: Campbell enters the Tiger Invitational with a 4-2 record... the Camels won three of four games as the hosts at last weekend's Hampton Inn Tournament... Campbell picked up wins over Drexel and Virginia before splitting a doubleheader with SIUE... the Camels also split a doubleheader with the College of Charleston on Feb. 15... Campbell is led at the plate by Christina Melton who is batting .429 with one home run and five RBI on the year... Amanda Miller and Lizzie Goldbach have each driven in five runs for the Camels... the pitching staff is led by Brittany Arnn who is 2-0 in two starts this season... she has recorded 10 strikeouts in 9.2 innings and sports a 1.45 ERA... Campbell's pitchers have allowed 25 runs in 42.0 innings while recording 36 strikeouts and issuing 12 walks... the Leathernecks have never faced Auburn.

KEEPING THE DYNASTY ALIVE: The Leathernecks enter the 2011 campaign looking to continue their recent dominance in The Summit League... Western Illinois has won three of the past four regular-season conference championships (2007, 2009 and 2010)... the Leathernecks won the league tournament in 2008 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Drake for the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament win... Western Illinois is 72-25 in The Summit League in five seasons under Holly Van Vlymen... she has been named as the league's "Coach of the Year" three times during her tenure with the Leathernecks... under her guidance, Western Illinois had the league's Pitcher and Freshman of the Year in 2007 and 2009 and has had 26 players named as All-League selections.

LEATHERNECKS PICKED 3rd IN PRESEASON POLL: Despite their recent dominance of The Summit League, the Leathernecks were picked to finish third in the preseason poll... Western Illinois finished with 49 points behind co-favorites North Dakota State (60) and IPFW (60)... the Bison have won the past two Summit League Tournament Titles and received five first-place votes while the Mastodons received four... Western Illinois has finished no lower than third in the preseason poll in five years under Van Vlymen.

WILLIAMS MAKES AN IMPACT: Western Illinois freshman Briana Williams made an immediate impact for the Leathernecks last weekend... the recorded two hits in three at-bats and stole two bases in her first collegiate action at the Cyclone Invitational... she also drove in a run and scored against Valparaiso... Williams has also shown great patience at the plate, drawing three walks in seven plate appearances.

EXTRA BASES: Western Illinois hitters combined for 108 multiple-hit games last season... Jamie Goss recorded 19 games with two or more hits while Beth Golitko (17), Jamie Goss (16), Colleen Biebel (15) and Lauren Furgla (10) each had 10 or more multi-hit games... Biebel recorded a team-leading four games with three or more hits while Golitko had a season-best four hits against IPFW on April 24... the team also combined for 38 multi-RBI games from individual players... Goss and Golitko recorded two or more RBI on seven occasions... Goss twice had four RBI while Ashley Campbell had a team-best five RBI against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 20... three players had hitting streaks of 10 or more games... Erin Shlotfeldt carries an active three-game hitting streak into this season... Jamie Goss is the only returner who played in all 54 games last year... Nikki Marinec played in 53 games... the Leathernecks set a season-high with 59 at-bats during a 14-inning game at Miami (OH) on March 16... Western returns four players who have career-batting averages of .300 or better... those players are Jamie Goss (.334), Beth Golitko (.326), Colleen Biebel (.315) and Ashley Campbell (.311)... the Leathernecks' longest winning-streak in 2010 was six games on two different occasions... the team's longest losing-streak was three games from March 31-April 2.

RECORD WATCH: Colleen Biebel and Michele Prieto each entered the 2011 season with 31 career-steals... both players are tied for 10th in Western Illinois history in stolen bases in a career... Stef Ryan is the program's all-time leader with 74 steals... Biebel and Prieto each need two more steals to move into a tie for ninth place on the career list.