MACOMB, Ill. - Leatherneck baseball opens a four-game roadtrip this Wednesday (April 22) at Bradley in Peoria, Illinois. 

Western will look to bounce back from a Summit League sweep against Fort Wayne and end a four-game losing streak at Dozer Park against the Braves. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. with live audio available at GoLeathernecks.com/watch.

LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois traveled to Fort Wayne last weekend (April 17-18) for a three-game Summit League series... Due to a foreboding weather forecast the teams played a doubleheader Friday and one game on Saturday... IPFW took game one, 5-2... Western fell behind early and could not catch up... Brent Turner went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI... Joe Mortillaro struck out nine... Dave Dobrinich collected the second double of his career... In game two neither team scored until the bottom of the sixth... The 'Dons took a 2-0 lead into the seventh... The Leathernecks scored one in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie the game... An errant throw to the pitcher allowed IPFW to go ahead for good in the bottom of the eighth... Mark Garton went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI... Tom Constand struck out a season-high eight batters... Purple and Gold pitchers combined to strike out 24 batters in the doubleheader... Game three was all Mastodons as Fort Wayne won 7-1... WIU's starting lineup featured four true freshmen... Kendall King went 2-for-3 with his first career double and first stolen base... Dobrinich scored Western's lone run on one hit, extending his hit streak to three games. 

A LOOK AT THE BRAVES: Bradley has won five of its last six including the last two against Missouri Valley opponent, Wichita State... The Braves took games two and three, 4-2 and 3-2, last Saturday and Sunday (April 18-19)... Bradley now sits third behind Dallas Baptist and Missouri State, two teams nationally ranked at some point this season... Elvis Dominguez is in his seventh year as head coach... While at Bradley, Dominguez has produced a national batting champion and a consensus All-American... Isaac Smith leads the Bradley offense with 39 hits and a .379 average... Smith has four home runs, 22 RBIs and 32 runs scored... Elliot Ashbeck serves as the Braves ace... Ashbeck is 7-3 in 10 starts with 48 strikeouts and a 3.55 ERA... It will be redshirt-junior Cameron Roegner getting the start against Western... The left-handed pitcher is 2-0 in four starts and 34.2 innings pitched... Roegner has 25 strikeouts and 4.15 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY: On Wednesday (April 22), Western and Bradley will meet for the 95th time in school history... The teams last met on April 1, 2012 in Macomb, Illinois the finale of a three-game series... Bradley won the game 7-4 to take the series... WIU's last win over the Braves came on March 30, 2012 in game one of the series. 

UP NEXT: After playing Bradley the Purple and Gold will travel from Peoria, Illinois to Fargo, North Dakota for a three-game Summit League showdown against North Dakota State... The Leathernecks will return home on Tuesday (April 28) for a midweek game against  St. Ambrose, followed by another home game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

HERE'S THE SITUATION: In 2015 left-handed closer Tyler Owings has allowed just two hits to 26 left-handed batters (.077)... Chris Tschida leads the team with 16 hits and a .348 average when there are two outs... Jake Moore has notched 20 hits and boasts a .417 batting average with runners on base. 

LEATHERNECKS IN THE SUMMIT: Currently nine Leathernecks rank in The Summit League's 'Top 10' in ten statistical categories... Roman Visintine sits sixth in walks with 20... Chris Tschida is tied for third with two triples... Jake Moore's four home runs tie him for seventh... Adam McGinnis ranks second in hit-by-pitch, and seventh in stolen bases... JJ Reimer comes in third in the hit-by-pitch category... Tyler Owings ranks third in saves... Tom Constand is just one of eight pitchers to throw a complete game this season... Joe Mortillaro slides in at eighth for total innings pitched... Preston Church ranks sixth in strikeouts.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: On April 4 senior left-handed pitcher Tyler Owings earned his record-breaking 10th career save... The record was previously held by current minor-leaguer Brian Loconsole... Brent Turner is currently eighth on Western's games-played rankings... Tom Constand broke into the Leatherneck 'Top 10' in career innings pitched with 207.0 and career strikeouts with 161.
 

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