MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois returns to action this week with three non-league, midweek games before hitting the road for a three game series at UMKC over the weekend.
The action begins with a doubleheader at Loyola beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday before a single game against Iowa at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Fighting Leathernecks (9-14) won two of four games last week including a 2-1 series win over IUPUI. Western dropped a midweek match up with Wichita State last Wednesday.
Loyola (11-9) is coming off a three-game sweep of Youngstown State in their Horizon League opener over the weekend. The Ramblers snapped a four-game losing streak when they defeated the Penguins on Saturday.
Iowa (18-12) took both games from Ohio State in Big Ten play this past weekend. The Hawkeyes have won four in a row and eight of their past 10 games
Tuesday's games at Loyola can be heard live on Rocky Vision while Wednesday's game with Iowa will be heard live on WIUS 88.3 FM and televised live on wiutv3 (Channel 3, Macomb).
The Matchups
Who: Western Illinois (9-14) at Loyola (11-9)
When: Tuesday, March 29 (DH) at 3 p.m.
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Who: Western Illinois vs. Iowa (18-12)
When: Wednesday, March 30 at 4 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Coverage
Live Stats • LoyolaRamblers.com & GoLeathernecks.com
Radio • WIUS 88.3 FM (free)
Television • wiutv3
Streaming Video • Rocky Vision (subscription)
Streaming Audio • Rocky Vision (free)
Play-by-Play: Julio Rausseo
Color Commentators: Ryan Bower (Tuesday) and Lauren Furgala (Wednesday)
PREVIOUSLY VS. IUPUI: Western Illinois took two of three games from IUPUI over the weekend... the Leathernecks won Friday's on Nikki Marinec's walk-off homer in the eighth inning... her two-run, two-out shot to left field made the final score 10-9... IUPUI took the first game of Saturday's doubleheader by a 24-20 score... the game lasted three hours and thirty-seven minutes and featured six home runs... the 44 combined runs are the most in one game in Western Illinois history... Hailey Bickford tossed a complete-game shutout in the third and final game of the series as the Leathernecks won 4-0 in the rubber match... she struck out nine Jaguars and allowed just five hits in her seven innings... she was also 2-for-3 with two RBI at the plate.
PREVIOUSLY VS. WICHITA STATE: The Leathernecks fell to Wichita State by a score of 18-11 on Wednesday... Western took an early 3-0 lead, but the Shockers used a nine-run third inning to pull away... Jamie Goss hit two homers and drove in six runs in the contest... the game was originally scheduled as the first game of a doubleheader, but game two was called due to darkness before it could be ruled as an official game.
SCOUTING THE RAMBLERS: Loyola outscored Youngstown State 20-5 over the weekend including a 10-1 victory in the second game of the series... the Ramblers are batting just .250 as a team but sport a solid 3.35 ERA... Loyola features the reigning Horizon League "Player of the Week" in first baseman Jacqueline Grim... she was a perfect 5-for-5 with two homers and four RBI in three games against Youngstown State.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES: Iowa swept Big Ten rival Ohio State in two games over the weekend... the Hawkeyes defeated the Buckeyes by scores of 7-2 and 5-3... Iowa is batting .274 as a team and has posted a 2.72 team ERA... Chelsey Carmody leads the Hawkeyes with a .440 batting average and has driven in 14 runs... Liz Watkins is the team leader in home runs (6) and RBI (22).
SCHLOTFELDT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior infielder/designated player Erin Schlotfeldt was named as The Summit League's "Player of the Week" after batting .667 with three homers and 10 RBI in four games last week... she was a perfect 3-for-3 with a career-high five RBI in game one against IUPUI on Saturday... Schlotfeldt currently ranks second in The Summit League in batting average (.408) and is tied for third in home runs (5)... she also leads the league in slugging percentage (.837) and ranks in the top-10 in two other statistical categories.
LEADING THE LEAGUE: In addition to Schlotfeldt's league-leading slugging percentage, several other Leathernecks lead the league in other offensive categories... Nikki Marinec is the top hitter in the league with a .413 batting average... she is also tied for first with 23 runs... Beth Golitko leads the league in doubles (11) while Goss is the league-leader in RBI (29) and total bases (49)... Megan Kelly leads the league with a 508 on-base percentage.
UP NEXT: Western Illinois returns to Summit League play with a three-game series at UMKC April 2-3... the Leathernecks will not return home until they play host to North Dakota State April 15-16.
