MACOMB, ILL. - The Summit League Baseball Championship is set to start on Thursday and Western Illinois (21-36, 13-15) will open the tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium. The Purple and Gold will enter the playoffs as the #4 seed and will face top-seeded Oral Roberts (33-20, 21-7) at 2 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Leathernecks will be appearing in the postseason for the first time since 2008.

It will be the fifth time that Western Illinois and Oral Roberts have met in the Summit League Championship (0-4) dating back to 1999. Western has yet to face either SDSU or NDSU in the postseason.

The championship bracket was released on Sunday along with ticket information through the Sioux Falls Sports Authority. Both can be found at the bottom of the article or by visiting Championship Central at The Summit League's site.

The teams split the regular season series in Macomb, Ill. earlier this season. Dan Russell tossed in a gem in game one as he collected a complete game in the 3-2 victory. Game two featured four Leathernecks turning in multiple-RBI games. Matt Igara drove in three runs while John Koszulinski, Danny Marcuzzo and Bryan Jordan all collected two RBI in the 13-4 win. 

ORU rebounded in the final two games of the series as the Golden Eagles won game three, 5-2 and game four, 5-1. Both Ryan Wachholder (8.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 SO) and Alexander Zarate (7.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 SO) were impressive in the final two games.

The other matchup will pair #2 South Dakota State and #3 North Dakota State. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Second round play will begin on Friday with the two winning teams playing at 3:00 p.m. and the losing teams will square off at 11:00 a.m.

Be sure to check GoLeathernecks.com early in the week for in-depth preview of Summit League Championship including video interviews with head coach Mike Villano, senior outfielder Anthony Kaskadden, senior catcher John Koszulinski and staff ace Dan Russell.