The Returners
Western returns 12 from last year's squad, including two seniors, three juniors, and seven sophomores.Â
Ashley Campbell (#24, Senior, Outfielder): Campbell played in 25 games last season, starting 15 of them while hitting four home runs, driving in nine runs, and recording a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. She enters the 2012 season tied for seventh in program history with 15 career-homers.
Jamie Goss (#33, Senior, Infielder): Goss earned First Team All-Summit honors last season after batting .329 with a single-season program record 47 RBI. She also hit six home runs and 14 doubles while posting a .566 slugging percentage.
Julia Katsaros (#23, Junior, Outfielder): Katsaros appeared in seven contests and made one start which was in the outfield at Iowa State on Feb. 12th last year. She also appeared in three games as a pinch-runner, and four as an outfielder.
Kelsey Michelini (#21, Junior, Pitcher/Infielder): Michelini made 23 starts from the circle last season, and posted a record of 6-11 with a 6.03 ERA in 110.1 innings of work. She batted .265 (18-for-68) with two doubles, two homers and 10 RBI from the plate.
Alex Pflieger (#18, Junior, Catcher): Pflieger finished last season batting .348 (8-for-23) with two doubles, a homer and five runs batted in. Recorded a hit in six of the 12 games in which she recorded an at-bat and scored four runs on the season.
Hailey Bickford (#5, Sophomore, Pitcher/Utility): Bickford appeared in 34 games from the circle including 19 starts while led the team in wins (9), ERA (4.34), and strikeouts (83). She also tossed a team-high 127.1 innings, recorded two shutouts, and led the team in complete games (11). Bickford batted .254 (16-for-63) on the season with two homers and seven RBI.
Emma Jarrell (#14, Sophomore, Infielder): Jarrell appeared in 14 games and made 10 starts last season for the Leathernecks. She scored her first run in her first start against Valparaiso at the Cyclone Invitational (2/12), and recorded her first hit, a double, and scored a run at Southern Utah (3/19).
Bria Jones (#22, Sophomore, Utility): Jones appeared in five contests last season including three as a pinch-hitter and two as a pinch-runner. She made her first plate-appearance at Auburn (2/19) and scored her first collegiate run against Northern Illinois (4/26).
Megan Kelly (#11, Sophomore, Infielder): Kelly batted .292 (31-for-106) last year with six homers and 34 run batted in. She also hit 10 doubles and finished the year with a .557 slugging percentage and a .436 on-base percentage Kelly also finished the season ranked second in the league with 29 RBI against Summit League opponents.
Monica Rondón (#15, Sophomore, Catcher/Utility): Rondón appeared in 12 games and made one start last season for Western with made her first start coming against Northern Illinois (4/26) She scored her first run and recorded her first hit against IUPUI (3/26).
Ryleigh Sears (#4, Sophomore, Outfielder): Sears appeared in 17 games, primarily as a pinch-runner... scored six runs on the season... scored her first run in her first collegiate appearance against Oakland (3/11).
Briana Williams (#20, Sophomore, Utility): Williams finished second on the team with 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts last season. She recorded a hit in her first collegiate at-bat at Iowa State (2/11), and scored a season-high three runs and stole three bases at UNLV (3/16).
The Newcomers
The Leathernecks will welcome five new players to their roster this season, including four high school recruits and one transfer.
Amanda Daly (#9, Junior, Pitcher/Outfielder): Daley started 15 games with 35 appearances in 2010 for the Dayton Flyers while posting the lowest team earned run average, 4.37, and a team high 72 strike outs.
KC Dunne (#7, Freshman, Shortstop/Outfielder): Dunne finished with a .409 career batting average at Buffalo Groves High School and was twice named to the NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-Region Team (First-team selection in 2010).
Sammy Marshall (#10, Freshman, Shortstop/Outfielder): Marshall will look to make an immediate impact for the Leathernecks as a freshman after setting Naperville High School single-season records for hits (65), batting average (.586), stolen bases (49) and on-base percentage (.626) last year as a senior. She also set several career marks for the Huskies, including: steals (145), batting average (.422), hits (180), and on-base percentage (.458).
Lia Romeo (#8, Freshman, Catcher/Infielder): Romeo was named All-Area mention, and was a member of the 2010 IHSA 4A Regional Championship team after batting at a .346 clip, with 18 doubles, three homers, and 34 RBI.
Teagan Walsh (#6, Freshman, Pitcher/Utility): Walsh will join the Leathernecks after an outstanding career at Marist High School where she helped lead the Redhawks to conference and regional championships in 2009 and 2010. Walsh batted .383 with 12 doubles, two triples and three home runs while picking up 47 RBI last season.
The Schedule
The Leathernecks will open the year against Drake, North Dakota, Iowa State and Northern Iowa in the Northern Iowa Tournament (Feb. 11-12). The following weekend (Feb. 17-19) Western, travels to part in the Georgia's tournament, taking on Winthrop, Connecticut, Buffalo Georgia, and Tennessee Tech. Tournament hosts Georgia is a perennial powerhouse in the SEC almost every year and made their 10th-straight NCAA Division I Softball Championship appearance last season.
From Georgia, the team will journey to Memphis for a tournament (Feb. 26-28) and square-off against Winthrop, Northern Iowa, Miami-Ohio and Missouri State. The tournament-season will conclude the first weekend in March (March 3-4) in Carbondale for the Southern Illinois Tournament where Western will face SIU, SIU-Edwardsville, Northern Iowa and Wright State.
Before traveling to Evansville for a pair of nonconference contests on March 14th, the Leathernecks will travel to Lexington, Ky., on March 13th for a doubleheader against a Kentucky team that is coming off its most successful season in school history. Last year the Wildcats finished 40-16.
Summit League action kicks-off a 10-game homestand at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium as the Leathernecks play host to South Dakota State for a three-game series (March 16-17). Last season, Western traveled to Brookings to face the Jackrabbits and took the series, 2-1. After facing Illinois-Chicago on March 21st at home for a doubleheader, the Leathernecks continue their home stand when they play host to Southern Utah for a three-game league-series (March 23-24). Western dropped last year's series with the Thunderbirds, 1-2. The home stand concludes with a nonconference doubleheader against in-state neighbor Bradley on March 28th.
The Leathernecks finish the month of March with a trip to Rochester, Mich., to face a team they swept in 2011 for a three-game series, the Oakland Golden Grizzles. Western will play host to Northern Iowa (April 3) for a nonconference doubleheader to begin the month of April, and then travel north to Fargo, N.D. to take on the defending Summit League tournament champion, North Dakota State, the beginning of an eight-game road trip . The Bison swept the Leathernecks in 2011 and went on to become the second team in Summit League history to earn three-straight Summit League tournament titles.
Western will then take part in four nonconference games on the road, a doubleheader versus Wisconsin (April 10th), and contests against Illinois (April 17th) and Missouri (April 18th). Last year, Missouri advanced to the Women's College World Series for the third straight season and earned its first-ever victory at the WCWS over the fourth-rated Florida Gators.
The month of April concludes with a three-game Summit League home series against IPFW on April 20-21, followed by a three-game road series against South Dakota on April 27-28, and the Leathernecks' third tilt against Bradley in Macomb on April 30th.
The UMKC Kangaroos, who were crowned regular season champions a year ago, make their way to Macomb for a three-game series to conclude regular season action on May 5-6.
The top four teams from the Summit League will then head to Kansas City, Mo. for the 2012 Summit League Championships. The UMKC hosted Summit League tournament will take place May 10-12.
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