MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois softball team kicks off its 2016 campaign at the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic this weekend (Feb. 12-14). The Fighting Leathernecks will face Green Bay, Nebraska, St. Louis, Drake, and Northern Iowa at the three-day tournament, hosted by UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Purple and Gold begin 2016 with a matchup against Green Bay on Friday (Feb. 12) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday's (Feb. 13) action kicks off at 8 a.m. with a game against Big Ten member Nebraska, followed by a contest against St. Louis at 12:30 p.m. Western wraps up the weekend with back-to-back games on Sunday (Feb. 14) beginning at 5 p.m. against Drake before action concludes against Northern Iowa at 7:15 p.m.
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SCOUTING THE PHOENIX: The Phoenix posted an 18-28 (9-11 HL) record last season… Green Bay loses Hailey Mohrfeld and Miranda Spangberg who combined for 58 runs and 115 hits last season… Katelyn Huemmer returns for the Phoenix after hitting .348 with 26 RBIs and 29 runs a season ago… Briana Cavin will be back in the circle… She went 5-11 last year with a 4.82 ERA and 67 strikeouts.
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SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks and the Phoenix will face off for the 27th time in program history on Friday… Western leads the all-time series 22-4… The two teams last met for a double-header on March 7, 2015… Western took both games by scores of 13-3 and 1-0.
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SCOUTING THE HUSKERS: The Huskers return Kiki Stokes who was a 2015 third-team All-American after batting .407 and setting school records in runs scored (66) and on-base percentage (.532) in the lead off position… The Leathernecks will also have to watch out for MJ Knighten who hit .412 last year with 60 RBIs and 82 hits… Emily Lockman, a two-time, first-team, all-region selection, will return for the Huskers on the mound… Last season the Huskers set school records for batting average (.337), runs (400), RBIs (370), walks (217), on-base percentage (.431) and slugging percentage (.515) en route to a 35-23 record (17-6 Big Ten)… Rhonda Revelle enters her 24th year as the head coach of the Huskers.
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SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the third meeting between the Leathernecks and Huskers… Western trails the all-time series against the Big Ten members, 0-2… The two teams last faced off for two consecutive games in 2007, where WIU dropped both games, 3-7.
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SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS: The Billikens return seven players who batted over .300 last season, including Alex Nickel who batted .415… Nickel started all 54 games, hit 11 home runs, compiled 32 RBIs, and had a slugging percentage of .690… Brianna Lore will return for St. Louis in the circle… Lore posted a 2.64 ERA with an 18-10 record last season… At the plate, Lore hit .340 with 52 hits and 32 RBIs… In 2015, the Billikens posted a 36-18 overall record, and 18-5 in the Atlantic 10 conference… St. Louis is coached by Christy Connoyer who will begin her sixth year at the helm of the program.
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SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks lead the all-time series between the two teams 13-7… The last time the teams faced off was in April of 2009... Western swept a double-header in St. Louis by scores of 4-0 and 11-6.
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SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: The Bulldogs claimed the 2015 MVC regular reason title and were picked to finish fourth overall in this year's preseason poll… Drake returns Megan Sowa who led the team in batting average (.338) and hits (54) last season… However, they lose Hayley Nybo who led the team in several statistical categories including RBIs (37), doubles (13), and home runs (11)… The Bulldogs also lose Rebekah Schmidt who recorded 30 RBIs and seven home runs last year… Schmidt was also valuable on the mound as she had a 19-14 record in 2015 with a 2.48 ERA, made 30 starts and compiled 198 strikeouts… Drake returns its top pitcher in Nicole Newman who posted a 1.89 ERA with a 13-5 record last season… She started 20 games and pitched 133.1 innings with 175 strikeouts… Head coach Rich Calvert enters his 14th season for the Bulldogs.
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SERIES HISTORY: Western and Drake will meet up for the 38th time in program history… The Leathernecks lead the all-time series, 22-16… WIU took the last meeting from the Bulldogs on Feb. 8, 2014 by a score of 10-4.
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SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: The UNI Panthers return seven starters from the 2015 lineup, but lose Rikki Alcaraz who lead the team with a .329 batting average last year… Rising senior Caitlin Wnek batted .296 last year and led the team in hits (48) and total bases (75)… The Panthers also return their RBI (36) and on-base percentage (.408) leader from a year ago in Kennedy Bailey… Chelsea Ross returns in the circle for UNI after an 18-16 season with 32 starts… Ross ended the year with a 3.56 ERA, 190 strikeouts, and 196.2 innings pitched… The Panthers posted a 22-28 record in 2015 and finished third in the MVC (15-10)… Picked to finish third in the 2016 MVC preseason poll… Head coach Ryan Jacobs in entering his ninth season at the helm of the program.
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SERIES HISTORY: WIU trails the all-time series with the Panthers, 21-28... The Leathernecks have dropped the last two meetings… The most recent coming in April of 2012 when they dropped the contest 0-8.
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SEASON OUTLOOK: The Purple and Gold will open the first part of the 2016 season with six tournaments, with tournament play making up 26 of the team's 49 games… The Tiger Invitational hosted by SEC member Auburn highlights the early part of the season on Feb. 26-28… Summit League play opens on March 25 with a series at South Dakota State… Western will play nine games in front of a home crowd at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium.Â
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2015 SEASON RECAP: The Leathernecks posted an 18-23 record last season (8-10 SL) and finished fourth overall in The Summit League… Western's best month came in March when they posted an 8-10 record, batting .288 as a team… After qualifying for The Summit League tournament, the Leathernecks fell to South Dakota State 6-7 in the opening round… Tierney Bottino was named First Team All-Summit League.
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RETURNERS: The Purple and Gold return five starters from a year ago… Despite losing Sammy Marshall who batted .459 last year, Western returns plenty of power hitters… Tierney Bottino returns after hitting .325 a season ago with 41 hits, 33 RBIs, and 24 runs scored… Senior Karissa Kouchis also returns after batting .225 her junior season with 20 hits… Kacyee Hart returns to the circle… In 2015 she posted an 8-10 record with 87 strikeouts.Â
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NEWCOMERS: Western brings nine newcomers (seven freshman, two transfers) to the 2016 roster…Hailey Duwa (Pleasant Valley, Ill) finished her senior year with a .615 average, 17 home runs, 16 doubles, and 60 RBIs.… Emily Ira (Iowa City, Iowa) limited opponents to a .087 average while going 28-2 with a 0.53 ERA during her senior season... Maine transfer Sam Ralphs appeared in 51 games for the Black Bears where she tallied 31 hits, 17 runs, 10 RBIs, and held a career batting average with Maine of .282… Pitcher Payton Abbott (Stillman Valley, Ill.) struck out 189 batters in 21 games and only allowed 28 earned runs over 131 innings and batted .704 as a junior… Sidney Bottino (Lockport, Ill.) hit .440 with four home runs and 18 RBIs her senior year… Aly Compton (Noblesville, Ind.) raised her batting average from .231 her sophomore season to .350 her junior season with two home runs… Megan Lotarski (Bolingbrook, Ill.) set a school record 258 strikeouts.
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SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: The Leathernecks were picked to finish sixth in the 2016 preseason coaches' poll with 14 points… North Dakota State received five first-place votes and 35 points overall… IUPUI (29), South Dakota (27), Omaha (20), and South Dakota State (16) finished ahead of Western… Fort Wayne (6) rounded out the poll. |
