MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois softball begins Summit League play by welcoming the two-time defending league champions, North Dakota State, to Macomb for a three-game series. The Leathernecks and Bison begin the series on Saturday (March 21) at 12 p.m. with a doubleheader. The finale of the series will begin on Sunday (March 22) at 11 a.m. Saturday also marks the home opener for the Leathernecks in 2015. The series is the first of 15 games Western will play at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium.
Western Illinois is coming off of a 3-2 week at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i. After taking the first game against Hawai'i, Western collected its final two wins on the final day of the tournament, to finish above .500 for the week and head into conference play with an overall record above .500. The Leathernecks received all-tournament performances from Sammy Marshall, Kacyee Hart, and Tierney Bottino.
SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State begins conference play on a six game winning streak... During that span, the Bison have outscored opponents 33-10... NDSU is led by Krista Menke in the circle... Menke leads the NCAA with 198 strikeouts in 118 innings of work... Menke has recorded 15 of the 20 victories for the Bison and is fifth in The Summit League with a 2.25 ERA... The senior has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 14 of her 17 starts... Jacquelyn Sertic is the other starter for NDSU... Sertic is 5-3 with a 4.11 ERA... Sertic is coming off of a shutout win over Northern Illinois on Thursday, allowing only one hit... Menke pitched in contests on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday... Offensively, the Bison are hitting .320 as a team... Amanda Grable and Logan Moreland are hitting .458 and .438 respectively... Grable is third on the team with 22 RBIs while Moreland adds six doubles... Alyssa Reina is a dual threat, with nine stolen bases, six home runs, and a team-leading 29 RBIs... Reina has also thrown out 11 baserunners this season... Cheyenne Garcia has also hit six home runs on the year... Katie Shoultz leads the team with 12 stolen bases... As a team, NDSU has stolen 63 bases... Home runs have been an issue for NDSU pitching, as Menke and Sertic has allowed 20 this season, but the Bison hitters counter with 21 of their own... NDSU has yet to be shut out this season... With three games this weekend, the Bison will have played nine games in nine days... Darren Mueller is now in his 14 season at North Dakota State. SERIES HISTORY: Western looks to snap a six-game losing skid against North Dakota State during the opening weekend of conference play... Western trails the all-time series 7-18 and looks for its first win over NDSU since 2012... The two programs last met in The Summit League Championships in May, with NDSU coming away with a 9-1 win over the Leathernecks, ending the 2014 season.
 SETTING THE TONE: The Leathernecks are 31-18 in the opening series of conference play since 2000... Last year, Western came away with two wins in Indianapolis over IUPUI to begin Summit League play... Western has only lost a series five times during that span... This will be the first time the Leathernecks and Bison will open conference play against each other.
 PROTECTING HOME FIELD: Since 2003, the Leathernecks are 94-75-1 at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium... Western Illinois is scheduled to play 15 games in Macomb this season... Of the 15, nine are conference games... Nationally-ranked Missouri will also make the trip to Mary Ellen McKee Stadium in 2015.
 WEEKEND UPDATE - RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC: The Leathernecks finished play in Hawaii 3-2, including a win over Hawaii... Led by all-tournament team performances from Sammy Marshall, Tierney Bottino, and Kacyee Hart, Western also defeated St. Bonaventure and Columbia... Marshall led all batters, hitting .500 and stealing two bases... Bottino hit her second career home run and finished the week with a .412 average and added a pair of doubles... Hart threw two complete game victories and came on relief in two more games... Hart finished a perfect 2-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 17 strikeouts... In each of her victories, Hart struck out seven batters, one shy of her single-game career high... Teagan Walsh led the Leathernecks with six RBIs, including a three-run double against Columbia to put Western in front. LEATHERNECKS IN THE NATION: Western Illinois ranks 55th in ERA and 84th in stolen bases per game... Individually, Sammy Marshall sits 21st in batting average, 22nd in on base percentage, and eighth in stolen bases per game... Lia Romeo finds herself in 84th in triples per game... Kacyee Hart is 44th in hits allowed per seven innings, an 8th in ERA... Kayla Kirkpatrick picked up where she left off in 2014, finding herself 98th in walks allowed per seven innings... Two Leathernecks also grace the top ten in the active career leaders list... Lia Romeo is seventh in hit by pitch while Sammy Marshall is the active leader in stolen bases and batting average. |
