SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES: Iowa will enter the midweek clash with Western Illinois with a 13-20 (3-6) record and taking one of three from the Hoosiers... the two teams will meet four the fourth and final time this season and the Hawkeyes have taken two of three up to this point... as a team the Hawks are hitting .263 clip... Mike McQuillan is hitting .323 with 18 RBI and seven doubles... Chett Zeise is hitting .304 and leads Iowa with two home runs... Trevor Willis leads the team with 58 total bases... Matt Dermody is 4-3 with a 4.61 ERA with 47 K's... Nick Brown has a team best 2.85 ERA and a 3-2 record... Jarred Hippen has 3.16 ERA to go with his 1-4 record... the staff ERA is 4.48 and opponents are hitting .293 off of Iowa hurlers.

CDB/WIU: College Baseball Daily has teamed up with the Western Illinois baseball team and will feature a weekly journal with an entry from a Leathernecks player or coach. The site is a great source for college baseball news around the nation and will spotlight the current season for Western with various viewpoints from the players and staff.

LAST FIVE GAMES: Western Illinois is hitting .260 in the last five games (3-2) with a .344 slugging percentage and a .347 on-base percentage... the Leathernecks drove in 22 RBI in that time frame... Matt Igara collected 10 total bases and five RBI to go with .412 average... as a team the Purple & Gold have a 3.35 ERA during that time.

DYNAMIC DUO: Tom Lilja and Dan Russell are near the top of the Summit League in several categories... Lilja has scored 28 runs to tie for second in the league, he is second with 27 RBI and leads the league with eight home runs... Russell carries a 3.10 ERA which is second in the league... opponents are hitting .218 against Russell which is the best in the league... he is also tied for third in strikeouts with 45... also has allowed a league low 48 hits.

HISTORICAL SERIES: Prior to the weekend series, Oral Roberts had beaten Western Illinois on 21 straight occasions... the Purple Army overcame any obstacles presented by the weather and field conditions to take Friday's game powered on Dan Russell's complete game... Western Illinois nearly ended game two of the series with the mercy rule and eventually won 13-5.

DISPENSA HEALTHY: The Leathernecks' outfield will received a boost as OF Dan Dispensa returns after missing the last 12 games of 2010 with an injury to his wrist... He has also turned all of his attention to baseball after participating in football and baseball at Western in 2009-10... Dispensa leads the team and Summit League in walks with 24... the sophomore is hitting .315 and had a 10-game hitting streak earlier this season… Dispensa also leads the team in OBP at .430.

1-2 PUNCH: The top of the Leatherneck rotation continues to be anchored down by Dan Russell and Zach Sterling… The two have combined for nine quality starts (6 IP and fewer than 3 earned runs)… Russell is 4-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 45 K's… Sterling is 3-2 and has a 3.40 ERA... opponents are hitting .218 of of Russell and .236 against Sterling.

SHUTOUT: Western Illinois blanked eastern Illinois on Tuesday, 4-0… the last time the Leathernecks had previously recorded a shutout was on March 14, 2009 against Medaille College.

STARTER NOTES: Matt Igara and Austin Cowen have started all 35 games this season for the Leathernecks… John Koszulinski and Tom Lilja have appeared in every game.

MONEYBALL: Matt Igara has regained the team lead in OPS with his .881 percentage... Tom Lilja is at .828 while John Koszulinski is at .805... Dan Dispensa OPS is on the rise and sits at .769... Igara is at 27.79 in runs created.