MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck baseball continues conference play Sunday (March 30) as North Dakota State visits Macomb for an afternoon twinbill. 

LAST TIME OUT: Western opened conference play with a doubleheader split against South Dakota State on Friday (March 28). Game on saw WIU starter Aaron Michel throw a one-hit shutout in his second victory of the season as Western won 1-0. The lefty threw all seven innings and matched his career-high with eight strikeouts. The Leathernecks put across their lone run in the second inning and held on to earn their first home opening victory since 2010. The second game of the doubleheader was tied 2-2 after 10 innings and had to be finished on Saturday due to darkness. WIU scored the first two runs of the game, but SDSU managed to tie the game in the ninth to send it to extra innings. On Saturday morning the Jackrabbits scored three quick runs to go on top 5-2. Western managed to put two runners on in the 11th, but could not put a run across. Travis Stafford notched a career-high four hits in the game, while Tanner Glore recorded a pair of RBIs.

SCOUTING THE BISON: NDSU enters Sunday's twinbill with a 7-11 overall mark and 0-2 record in league play. The Bison most recently fell twice to Fort Wayne Friday (March 28) in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons took game one, 8-2, and the second game 3-2. At the plate for NDSU Kyle Kleinendorst is hitting a league-best .390 in 18 games with 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored. Wes Satzinger is hitting .354 with 13 runs scored and 12 doubles. As a team the Bison have a league-leading eight triples and 30 doubles which ranks second in the conference.
 
SERIES HISTORY: WIU leads the all-time series, 20-14. Last season the Purple & Gold swept a four-game series between the two teams in Macomb. The Bison came away with the victory in the fifth meeting during The Summit League Tournament by a score of 3-0.

IN THE LEAGUE: Aaron Michel leads the league in hits allowed per nine innings with a 6.82 average. Michel also ranks fifth in the league in strikeouts (24) and third in ERA (2.41). 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). As a team, WIU leads the league in steals with 33. 

IN THE NATION: As a team the Leathernecks rank 70th nationally in stolen bases (30) and 28th nationally in stolen bases/game (1.76). 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 1-2 mark in 2014 with a 3.12 ERA in 34.2 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. NDSU's SOS is 258th on boydsworld.com.

ON THE BASEPATHS: Western is 33/44 (75%) through the first 19 games this season in stolen base attempts. In comparison, the Leathernecks were 12/25 (48%) through the first 19 games of 2013. Zack Burling (8/10) 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 1.73 average. 

UP NEXT?: The Leathernecks continue their homestand Wednesday (April 2) as Chicago State visits Macomb for a single game. The squads were originally scheduled to meet March 25, but inclement weather forced the game to be pushed back a week. The Cougars and Leathernecks will meet at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium beinning at 3 p.m.

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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