MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois returns home after a seven-game road trip when it plays host to North Dakota State in a three-game, Summit League Series over the weekend.

The games were originally scheduled for Friday (April 15) and Saturday (April 16) but have been moved due to impending weather on Friday. The first two games will be played on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. before a single game on Sunday at noon.

The Fighting Leathernecks (12-19, 8-7) dropped two of three to IPFW over the weekend. Western was able to pick up a victory in the third and final game of the weekend series on Sunday

The Bison (18-21, 8-4) enter the weekend on a six-game winning streak, all in league play. The Bison currently sit in fourth place in The Summit League standings, one spot ahead of Western Illinois

All of the action can be heard live on WIUS 88.3 FM by clicking HERE. Fans can also follow the game via live stats (HERE) or the Western Illinois Softball Twitter page (HERE). The games will also been shown live on Rocky Vision (HERE).

The Matchup
Who: Western Illinois (12-19, 8-7) vs. North Dakota State (18-21, 8-4)
When: Saturday, April 16 (DH) at 1 p.m. and Sunday, April 17 at 12 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Stadium: Mary Ellen McKee Stadium

Coverage
Video • Rocky Vision (subscription)
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com (free)
Twitter • @WIUSoftball (free)
Radio • WIUS 88.3 FM (free)
Play-by-Play: Julio Rausseo

PREVIOUSLY AT IPFW: Western Illinois picked up a victory in the third and final game of a weekend series at IPFW last week... the Leathernecks dropped the first two games by scores of 2-1 and 4-3 before winning the finale 6-3... Hailey Bickford picked up the win and hit her first collegiate homer in the final game... four of the six runs scored by IPFW during Saturday's doubleheader were unearned.

SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State enters the weekend on a six-game winning streak... the Bison have swept their previous two series in league play... NDSU is 11-4 in its last 15 contests... the Bison are led on offense by Nicole Rivera, who boasts a .359 batting average... Taylor Mortensen leads the team with five homers and 19 RBI... Whitney Johnson is NDSU's top pitcher... she is 11-8 with a 3.06 ERA on the season.

THE SERIES: North Dakota State leads the all-time series 4-9...The Leathernecks have lost to NDSU twice in The Summit League Championships... The Bison currently have a three-game winning streak in the series... Western's last victory came on April 16, 2010 in Fargo... the Leathernecks are 3-2 at home against the Bison all-time.

BICKFORD LEADS LEATHERNECKS: Western Illinois freshman pitcher Hailey Bickford had a career-day against IPFW on Sunday... she hit her first career-homer and picked up the win in the series finale... Bickford is 5-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 13 appearances against league opponents... she is also batting .348 (8-for-23) with three double, a homer and three RBI in league play... she ranks fifth among Summit League pitchers in wins (5) and ERA (2.55) against league opponents... she ranks sixth in strikeouts (34) and first in appearances in league play.

HOMERS FOR HODGKINS: This weekend will mark the "Homers for Hodgkin's" campaign... those who make any type of monetary donation are eligible to participate in a home run derby competition following the games on Saturday and Sunday... all proceeds will go to benefit the Lymphoma Research Foundation... everyone in attendance is eligible to participate... the first round will take place on Saturday and those who qualify to advance will compete again on Sunday...

LITTLE LEAGUE DAY: Saturday's games will also be designated as the Little League Softball day... all little league players in attendance will be allowed to step on the field after the games to play catch with their favorite Leathernecks and grab autographs.

NATIONALLY RANKED: Western Illinois remained in the top-100 nationally in several statistical categories... the Leathernecks rank 60th in batting average (/294), 64th in scoring (5.04 runs/game), 70th in homers per game (0.81), 10th in doubles per game (1.71), 48th in slugging (.457) and seventh in double plays per game (0.48)... Jamie Goss ranks 29th in RBI per game (1.13) and 13th in doubles per game (0.39)... Goss also ranks 26th in the "Toughest to Strikeout" category... Beth Golitko ranks 22nd in doubles per game (0.37) and Nikki Marinec ranks 62nd in runs per game (0.94)... Erin Schlotfeldt ranks 92nd in slugging (.712).

FIGHTING LEATHERNECKS ON THE AIR: Western Illinois softball games can be heard live on the Internet (www.GoLeathernecks.com) via the Leatherneck Sports Network by clicking on the link for each game on the softball schedule/results page... radio broadcasts for the games at Ohio, UMKC and Southern Utah will not take place due to no phone lines at those facilities.

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... head coach Holly Van Vlymen 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.

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 Furgala (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 Michelle Prieto are both in position to move up in the Leatherneck record book this season... Biebel has moved into 6th place on the career-stolen base list with 38 swipes after stealing one against Wichita State... Prieto is tied for 10th all-time with 33 career-stolen bases.

UP NEXT: Western Illinois will play host to Northern Illinois in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on April 19 before facing Centenary in the final home series of the season April 22-23.