MACOMB, Ill. - Following a clean sweep over Green Bay on Saturday (March 7), Western Illinois softball travels west to Hawaii for the 2015 Rainbow Wahine Classic. The trip is the first for Western since 2001, and also serves as the final warm up before conference play begins.
While in Honolulu, Western will face the hosts, Hawaii, along with St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, and Columbia. Action in Hawaii begins on Wednesday (March 11).
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE: Hawai'i plays host to its fifth tournament in 2015... Hawai'i is 16-9 overall and 12-7 at home... Led by Kayla Wartner, Hawai'i is hitting .269 as a team, scoring just under 6 runs per game... Wartner has seven home runs, eight doubles and 20 RBIs... Heather Morales adds four home runs while hitting .317, driving in 23 RBIs... Rainbow Wahine catchers have thrown out eight baserunners this season, holding opponents to a less than 50% success rate... Brittany Hitchcock and Kanani Aina Cabrales have thrown 137.4 innings combined... Hitchcock is 7-3 with a 2.71 ERA, allowing five home runs... Opponents are hitting .295 against Hitchcock... Cabrales has thrown three shutouts this season on her way to an 8-6 record in 11 starts and 20 appearances... Cabrales has a 3.47 ERA, allowing eight home runs, three triples, and ten doubles... Rainbow Wahine pitchers have surrendered 59 walks... Bob Coolen is in his 26th season.
SERIES HISTORY: Western Illinois and Hawaii have met only one time previously, an 8-0 loss for the Leathernecks in 2001.
SCOUTING THE BONNIES: St. Bonaventure is 1-7 after losing three in a row... The Bonnies only win of the season was against Charlotte (7-6)... Emily McDonough leads the team with a .435 average and four RBIs... Kiera Lorenzo enters the week hitting .316... The Bonnies have stolen 17 bases, led by McDonough and Lorenzo... The Bonnies have hit four doubles this year... Freshman Josie Borysevicz has carried most of the load in the circle, pitching 23.2 innings... Borysevicz (1-3) also leads the team with a 3.55 ERA... Kristen Hickling enters with a n 0-2 record and a 5.68 ERA... St. Bonaventure is coached by Mike Treehouse, who is in his 19th year.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks are Bonnies only prior meeting was in 2004, a 7-2 win for Western.
SCOUTING THE HOKIES: Virginia Tech is on the verge of entering the Top 25 in both major polls after sweeping Syracuse last weekend... The Hokies outscored the Orange 14-2 over three games... Kylie McGoldrick is one of six batters hitting over .300... McGoldrick is batting .396 with six doubles, one triple, and four home runs along with 23 RBIs... Kelsey Mericka enters the week with a .302 average with a team-leading nine homers and 21 RBIs... Hokie pitching has sat down 152 batters this season, led by Maggie Tyler with 92... Tyler has thrown 59.2 innings, starting 2015 with an 8-3 record and a 2.58 ERA... Kelly Heinz and Mikaela Aiken both bring unblemished record into the Rainbow Wahine Classic... Heinz is 5-0 while Aiken is 3-0... Aiken leads the nation in hits allowed per seven innings, allowing only 2.45 hits per seven innings... Tyler is ninth in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (10.8)... Scot Thomas is the only coach in Virginia Tech history, taking the job in 1995.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks and Hokies have never met.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Columbia is 2-4 in 2015, missing last weekend due to weather... Kerry Cook is hitting .350 to lead the Lion offense... Cook has one home run this season with three RBIs... Madison Gott is hitting .308 with one RBI... Tonia Wu leads the team with four RBIs... In the circle, Wu has a team-best 3.38 ERA and the only two wins in 2015... Tessa Kroll pitched six innings against Western at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic just two weeks ago, allowing three runs on seven hits... Jennifer Teague became the third coach in program history in July.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks moved to 2-0 all-time against the Lions after a 3-2 victory back on February 27... Brooke Stulga picked up her first career win. LEATHERNECKS IN THE NATION: The first national ranking summary was released on Monday (March 9)... Western Illinois ranks 46th in stolen bases per game and 36th in triples per game... Individually, Sammy Marshall sits 32nd in batting average, 18th in on base percentage, and fourth in stolen bases per game... Lia Romeo finds herself in 12th in triples per game, and 58th in hit by pitch... Kacyee Hart is 65th in hits allowed per seven innings... Kayla Kirkpatrick picked up where she left off in 2014, finding herself 87th in walks allowed per seven innings... Two Leathernecks also grace the top five in the active career leaders list... Lia Romeo is in the top five in hit by pitch while Sammy Marshall is the active leader in stolen bases and is third in batting average. WEEKEND UPDATE - GREEN BAY: Western's offense exploded, sweeping the Phoenix in Crown Point, Indiana... Western used home runs from Karissa Kouchis and Holly Hoelting to defeat Green Bay 13-3, before a masterful performance from Kayla Kirkpatrick guided Western to a 1-0 win to complete the sweep. |
