MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck baseball continues its spring break trip with a pair of midweek games at #10 Louisville. The Leathernecks and Cardinals will meet at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville, Ky.

LAST TIME OUT: The Leathernecks were in Terre Haute, Ind. for a three-game set against Indiana State. The Sycamores came out on top in all three games, improving to 12-1 on the year with a 12-game winning streak. Game one saw Leatherneck starter Aaron Michel throw seven innings with two hits allowed, but both hits came in a three-run fourth inning for ISU. The Sycamores took the game, 4-2. The second game saw the Leathernecks hit their first two home runs of the season, however ISU put across six runs total in the seventh and eighth innings to come back and win the contest, 8-5. Jake Moore hit a solo home run and Jameson Henning hit a two-run blast during the game. Brent Turner hit his first career triple for WIU, while on the mound Tyler Willman threw 6.0 innings with three strikeouts and one earned run allowed in the no-decision. The final game of the weekend series was all ISU early on as the Sycamores jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the fifth inning. Western put three runs across in the final two innings, but their rally fell short as ISU earned the series sweep with a 7-4 win. Adam McGinnis led the Leathernecks with a season high two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Chris Tschida notched a season-best three hits for the Purple & Gold. 

A LOOK AT LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals enter the midweek series with a 10-4 overall record and #10 ranking in the NCBWA Poll. UL finished the 2013 season with a 51-14 record and trip to the College World Series. At the plate Jeff Gardner is leading the way with a team-best .388 batting average and 19 RBIs on the year. Cole Sturegon is hitting .368 this season with a team-best 15 runs scored. On the mound, Jared Ruxer is 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts, while Kyle Funkhouser is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA. Last weekend the Cardinals took 2-of-3 from Miami (Ohio) at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville. The head coach of the Cardinals is Dan McDonnell who is in his eighth season at the helm.

SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks trail the four-game series, 3-1. The last meeting between the two squads came in 1991. During the three-game series the teams combined to score 97 total runs, with UL taking two of the three games. The Cardinals took the series opener that year, 28-26, which still stands as a record at WIU for most total runs in a game and is the second most runs scored for WIU in a game in program history.

BY THE NUMBERS: JJ Reimer (5/15) and Jake Moore (4/12) are tied for the team lead in batting average at .333. Travis Stafford leads the team in runs scored with four. Tanner Glore and Jameson Henning each have eight hits to lead the team. Glore is also tied for the RBI lead with Brent Turner (4). Zack Burling is a perfect 5/5 in stolen base attempts to lead the team. On the mound Tyler Owings has yet to surrender a run through 8.2 innings of work. Aaron Michel and Tom Constand each have 11 strikeouts to lead the team.

IN THE LEAGUE: Tyler Owings is the only player in the league with a 0.00 ERA (minimum 0.8 IP per game). Zack Burling is third in the league in stolen bases (5), while Neil DeCook is tied for fourth with four. Aaron Michel and Tom Constand are tied for fourth in the league in strikeouts with 11 each.

WILLMAN RECOGNITION: Junior pitcher Tyler Willman was recently recognized by Baseball America as an under the radar draft prospect. The righty has a 1-1 mark in 2014 with a 1.89 ERA in 19.0 innings of work. To view the full Baseball America article, click HERE.

MIXING IT UP: With the exception of Zack Burling in centerfield, at least two Leathernecks have made a start at every other position through the first ten games. Five Leathernecks (Glore, Henning, Stafford, DeCook, Pollock) have made starts at more than one position this season.

ON THE BASEPATHS: Western is 18/23 (78%) through the first ten games this season in stolen base attempts. In comparison, the Leathernecks were 5/12 (42%) through the first ten games of 2013. Neil DeCook (4/4) and Zack Burling (5/5) have accounted for half of the teams stolen bases so far.

UP NEXT?: The Leathernecks head to Normal, Ill. this weekend to battle in-state foe Illinois State. The teams will meet in a three-game set at the 'Corn Crib' in Normal due to field conditions at ISU's stadium. Game one will take place Friday (Mar. 14) with the final two games set for the following day.

RETURNERS: The Leathernecks return 23 players from the 2013 team. Of the 23 returners, 12 are position players and 11 are pitchers. Tanner Glore (.320), Zack Burling (.306) and Neil DeCook (.300) all hit .300 or better during 2013 and all return for their senior seasons. Brent Turner is the only Leatherneck who played in all 57 games last season and he returns for his junior campaign. On the mound Aaron Michel, Tyler Willman, Tom Constand and John White combined to start 42 games in 2013 and will all start the 2014 season in the weekend rotation. Nick Smith (15), Mason Pingel (14), Tyler Owings (12) and Riley Perry (11) all made 10 or more appearances last season and return to the bullpen in 2014. 

FRESH FACES: Western welcomes 12 new players in 2014: seven high school, four JUCO and one redshirt. Of the 12 newcomers, seven are position players and five will be in the bullpen. JJ Reimer was a third team JUCO All-American at Ellsworth CC last season and is expected to start for WIU behind the plate. Chris Tschida earned IHSA Class 3A State Player of the Year honors in 2013 and will start at first base on opening weekend. Madison College transfer Nathan Pollock (.355 BA/32 RBI in 2013) is projected to start in the outfield for the Leathernecks.

PRESEASON RECOGNITION: Six members of the 2014 squad earned preseason recognition from College Sports Madness. Jameson Henning, Aaron Michel and Zack Burling were tabbed preseason First Team All-League, while Neil DeCook, Tanner Glore and Tom Constand earned preseason Second Team All-Conference nods.

PRESEASON POLL: WIU received one first-place vote and eight overall points in the preseason poll and were picked to finish in fourth place. 2013 regular season champion Omaha was picked to finish first after receiving three first-place votes and 15 total points. 2013 tournament champion South Dakota State finished second in the voting, picking up one first-place vote and 12 points. North Dakota State was third with 10 points, while Fort Wayne rounded out the voting in fifth place with five points.

THE SCHEDULE: The 2014 schedule consists of 52 games for the Leathernecks with 21 home games at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. Western will travel a total of 7,758 miles round-trip during the course of the season with trips to Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota.

ON AIR: For the fifth straight year every Western Illinois baseball game will be broadcast live on the Internet (Rocky Vision) for free. Fans can log onto www.GoLeathernecks.com and click on the icon to Listen Live.

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