MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck baseball plays host to Illinois-Springfield Wednesday (April 9) in a nonconference game at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Purple & Gold were in Omaha last Sunday (April 6) for a conference doubleheader against the Omaha Mavericks. UNO took game one of the twinbill, 7-3. Western jumped out to an early 3-0 in the second inning after a pair of singles and Chris Tschida's first career double. The Mavs answered in the bottom of the frame with three runs to even the score. UNO then scored three in the third and added another run in the fifth to put the seven-inning game out of reach. At the plate Jameson Henning matched his season-high with three hits, while on the mound Aaron Michel was hit with the loss after throwing 4.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts and three earned runs allowed. Game two was a pitching duel that saw Leatherneck starter Tyler Willman throw a complete game shutout, the first nine-inning shutout of his career. The righty struck out five and allowed just five UNO hits. WIU put their first run across in the seventh inning and added another in the ninth to earn the 2-0 victory. The last time a WIU pitcher threw a nine-inning shutout was in May 2012 when Rich Mascheri shutout IPFW.

SCOUTING THE PRARIE STARS: UIS is a member of the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Prairie Stars enter Wednesdy's nonconference tilt with a 17-12 overall mark and 10-8 record in the GLVC. Jared Massengill has started all 29 games for UIS and leads the team with a .432 batting average. On the mound Kyle Schildroth has made 12 appearances  and through 19.0 innings of work has a 0.95 ERA and seven saves. The righty make the start for UIS on Wednesday. The head coach of UIS is Chris Ramierz, who is in his first season at the helm.

SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting will be the first between UIS and WIU in program history.

IN THE LEAGUE: Tyler Willman is second in the league in ERA with a 2.47 mark, while Aaron Michel is fifth at 2.81. Willman and Michel are tied for fourth in the league in wins with two each. Zack Burling (11) and Neil DeCook (9) are second and third in the league in stolen bases. 

PITCHERS OF THE WEEK: Leatherneck pitchers Tyler Willman (April 7) and Aaron Michel (March 31) were named The Summit League's 'Pitcher of the Week' in back-to-back weeks for their respective shutout performances. Willman's nine-inning shutout against Omaha earned the Oshkosh, Wis. native his first career 'Pitcher of the Week' honors. Michel's seven-inning shutout against South Dakota State in the conference home opener earned the Decatur, Ill. native his second career POW honors. The last time WIU baseball had back-to-back 'Pitcher of the Week' honors was in 2012 when the Leathernecks accomplished the feat three weeks in a row.

WALK-OFF FASHION: The Leathernecks had their first two walk-off wins in 2014 against the Bison on Sunday (March 30). Zack Burling played a role in both walk-offs, scoring the game-winning run in the opener on a Tanner Glore sacrifice fly and hitting the walk-off single in game two. The last time WIU won on a walk-off was May 10, 2013. In that game the Leathernecks defeated the Bison on a walk-off single in the 10th inning from Burling, Glore scored the game-winning run.

IN THE NATION: Tanner Glore is 14th nationally with five sacrifice flys this season. Zack Burling is 42nd in stolen bases/game (0.48) and 84th in stolen bases (11). Neil DeCook is 77 nationally in stolen bases/game (0.41). As a team WIU ranks 91st nationally in hits allowed/nine (8.40).

ON THE BASEPATHS: Western is 43/55 (78%) through the first 23 games this season in stolen base attempts. Zack Burling (11/13) and Neil DeCook (9/9) rank second and third in the league in steals, respectively. The Leathernecks as a team are 16th nationally in stolen bases per game with a 1.87 average and 54th in stolen bases with 43.

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

WILLMAN RECOGNITION: Junior pitcher Tyler Willman was recognized by Baseball America as an under the radar draft prospect. The righty has a 2-2 mark in 2014 with a 2.47 ERA in 43.2 innings of work. Each week Willman is listed in the 'Top 100' draft-eligible college players on baseballamerica.com.

UP NEXT?: Western continues conference play this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against league-leader Fort Wayne. The Leathernecks and Mastodons meet Saturday (April 12) and Sunday in Fort Wayne. First pitch each day is set for 11 a.m. CT.

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.

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 Western Illinois baseball games 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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