MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois baseball opens conference play at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders. The Leathernecks begin the weekend with a twinbill against South Dakota State Friday (March 28) at 1 p.m. Western then plays host to North Dakota State on Sunday (March 30) at noon.

LAST TIME OUT: Western took on the Butler Bulldogs last Friday (March 21) and Sunday at Lenz Field in Jacksonville, Ill. Game one Friday saw the Leathernecks cruise to an 11-2 victory. Brent Turner and Jameson Henning each notched three hits, while Chris Tschida and Adam McGinnis each hit their first career home runs. On the mound Aaron Michel earned the win after throwing 6.2 innings with three strikeouts. Sunday's doubleheader was all Butler as the Bulldogs took game one, 10-5, and game two 2-0. BU put five runs across in the third inning of game one on their way to the victory. Jake Moore and Tanner Glore each scored twice for WIU in the seven-inning contest. Game two of the doubleheader was a pitching duel, with WIU starter Tom Constand throwing a season-high 8.0 innings in the loss. At the plate Zack Burling matched his season-high with three hits in the game, while Travis Stafford recorded a pair of doubles.

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: SDSU enters Friday's twinbill with an 11-11 overall mark through 22 nonconference games this season. The Jacks mostly recently took 2-of-3 from Chicago State last weekend in Chicago. At the plate Scott Splett is hitting a team-best .368, which also ranks fourth in the league. Aaron Machbitz has hit three home runs this season and is tied for third in the conference with 15 RBIs. As a team SDSU leads the league in runs (114), hits (210), doubles (39), ERA (3.60) and opponent batting average against (.251). The head coach of the Jackrabbits is Dave Schrage, who is in his third season.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Adam Bray and Joe Erickson will start each game of the doubleheader for SDSU Friday. Bray leads the league in strikeouts with 31 and wins with three, while Erickson leads the league with a 0.98 ERA. For WIU, lefty Aaron Michel will start game one and righty Tyler Willman will start the second game. Both Leathernecks have one win apiece this season. Michel's 2.97 ERA is sixth in the league; Willman's 3.90 ERA is ninth.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Jacks lead the all-time series, 17-8. Last season SDSU won four of six meetings. In the Summit League Tournament, WIU won the opener over the Jacks, 4-2, before SDSU took the elimination game, 5-4. The other four meetings took place at Boyer Stadium last season.

IN THE LEAGUE: Aaron Michel leads the league in hits allowed per nine innings with a 6.82 average. Zack Burling leads the league in steals (8) and steals/game (0.47). Tom Constand is fifth in the league in strikeouts/game (7.04) and ninth in strikeouts (18). As a team, WIU leads the league in steals with 30.

IN THE NATION: Zack Burling is 56th in stolen bases/game with a 0.47 average. Brent Turner is 72nd in triples (2) and 64th in triples/game (0.13). 

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 2.52 ERA in 25.0 innings of work.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Leatherneck junior Brent Turner was named Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week Monday (March 24) for his performances on the field and in the classroom. The Bloomington, Ill. native hit a team-best .556 last weekend against Butler with a team-leading .583 on-base percentage and .778 slugging percentage. Turner owns a 3.37 GPA majoring in Biology.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: According to boydsworld.com, WIU's strength of schedule is 40th nationally out of 299 teams. Out of the five Summit League teams, WIU is the only team with a strength of schedule under 210. SDSU's SOS is 231st on boydsworld.com.

ON THE BASEPATHS: Western is 30/39 (77%) through the first 17 games this season in stolen base attempts. In comparison, the Leathernecks were 11/22 (50%) through the first 17 games of 2013. Zack Burling (8/9) leads both the team and the league in stolen bases. The Leathernecks as a team are 28th nationally in stolen bases per game with a 1.76 average.

UP NEXT?: The Leathernecks continue their homestand Sunday (March 30) as conference foe North Dakota State visits Macomb for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for noon, with Tom Constand set to start game one and Preston Church set to start the second game.

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.

ROSTER RUNDOWN: The Leathernecks return 23 players from the 2013 team. Of the 23 returners, 12 are position players and 11 are pitchers. 12 new players are taking the field for the first time in 2014. One redshirt, four JUCO and seven high school players make up the 12 newcomers. The Leatherneck roster is made up of nine seniors, 13 juniors, five sophomores and eight freshmen.

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

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