MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois takes a break from league action Tuesday (April 10) as it heads to No. 24 Missouri for a doubleheader. WIU and Mizzou are scheduled to begin their doubleheader at 4 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN3/WatchESPN or SEC Network +.
SUMMIT LEAGUE HONORS: WIU's Emily Ira (Iowa City, Iowa/Solon) and Aly Compton (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) swept The Summit League's weekly honors as Ira was tabbed Pitcher of the Week and Compton earned Player of the Week... The honor is Ira's third of the season and fourth of her career, while Compton's weekly honor is the first of her career... Ira finished the weekend 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA after pitching two complete games (14.0 innings total), totaling 19 strikeouts and walking zero batters... Compton finished the three-game series with a .636 batting average, going 7-of-11 at the plate with one home run, two RBIs and three runs scored.
SERIES HISTORY: Missouri leads the all-time series 36-5... Western won the first-ever meeting between the two teams on April 10, 1982... WIU's other four victories came on: March 13, 1993 | March 23, 1997 | February 16, 2002 | March 17, 2007... The Tigers have won 16 consecutive games... Last season the Leathernecks dropped a pair of games to the Tigers by scores of 6-0, 6-0.
A LOOK AT MISSOURI: Missouri, a member of the SEC, is 21-16 overall and 4-7 in conference play this season... The Tigers, who are ranked No. 24 nationally in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, are 8-6 at home... Mizzou most recently took 2-of-3 from then ranked #9 Alabama and dropped 2-of-3 to No. 25 Arkansas.
The Tigers are led by Kirsten Mack and Braxton Burnside at the plate... Mack leads the team in batting average (.354), doubles (11) and walks (21), and ranks second in hits (35), RBIs (22), slugging percentage (.636) and runs scored (24)... Burnside leads Mizzou in hits (39), runs (25), RBIs (38), slugging percentage (.661) and home runs (9), and ranks second in batting average (.331) and doubles (10)...Baxter leads the Tigers in the circle with a team-best 9-4 record and 2.15 ERA... She's pitched six complete games and a total of 91 innings with 86 strikeouts and 40 walks.
Missouri is coached by Ehren Earleywine who is in his 11th season at the helm who owns a 474-170 (.738) record as head coach of the Tigers... Overall as a head coach, Earleywine is 620-225 (.735) and in his 14th season.
LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois won its third Summit League series of the year and improved to 7-2 in league play after topping the Fort Wayne Mastodons in 2-of-3 games this past weekend... The Leathernecks won game one 6-1 behind a stellar pitching performance from Emily Ira... Fort Wayne took game two, 4-3, in extra innings before WIU shutout the Mastodons in game three, 6-0 on Sunday behind another complete game from Ira in the circle.
UP AHEAD: After Western's doubleheader at Missouri on Tuesday at 4 p.m., the Leathernecks continue Summit League play at home versus IUPUI April 14-15 featuring a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. and a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m... The Leathernecks then wrap up their home schedule the following weekend when North Dakota State come to town April 23-24.
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IN THE NCAA: Individually, Nina Maggio ranks seventh in sacrifice hits per game (0.35)... Emily Ira ranks fourth in walks allowed per seven innings (0.66), 18th in strikeouts (154), 36th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.4) and 99th in hits allowed per seven innings (5.54)... Payton Abbott ranks 78th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.1).
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IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: As a team, WIU ranks first in stolen bases (31) and batting average against (.248)... Second in runs (142), triples (7), total bases (385), walks (107) and earned run average (3.26)... Third in home runs (23), sacrifice hits (29), on-base percentage (.336), slugging percentage (.379)... Individually, Emily Ira ranks first in earned run average (2.25) and strikeouts per game (8.44), second in strikeouts (154), complete games (17), batting average against (.214), innings pitched (127.2) and shutouts (2), and third in wins (8)... Kelsey Marlow ranks first in triples (3), second in stolen bases (11), fourth in sacrifices flies (2), and fifth in doubles (8)... Holly Hoelting ranks fourth in home runs (6) and fifth in walks (20)... Payton Abbott ranks third in strikeouts per game (7.07), fourth in batting average against (.245) and fifth in strikeouts (68)... Rachael Beatty ranks fifth in stolen bases (8).
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PRESEASON POLL: Following its best finish since 2010, the Western Illinois softball team was picked to finish third overall in the 2017 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll. North Dakota State was projected as the preseason favorite with 36 points (six first-place votes), followed by Omaha with 27 (one first-place vote). The Leathernecks garnered 25 points, while South Dakota was picked to finish fourth with 23. South Dakota State (19), IUPUI (11) and Fort Wayne (5) rounded out the poll.
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NEWCOMERS: Western Illinois adds five freshmen to their 2017 roster in Meghan Henson (Munster, Ind. / Marian Catholic), Halle Hollatz (Lockpork, Ill. / Lockport), Sydney Hollings (Normal, Ill. / Normal Community West), Brittanee Knepper (Blackwell, Okla. / Blackwell) and Jasmine Lara (Bettendorf, Iowa / Pleasant Valley).
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RETURNERS: The Leathernecks return 15 players from a year ago, including two Second-Team All-Summit League selections in senior Nina Maggio and sophomore Emily Ira. The latter was also tabbed to the preseason 'Players to Watch' list after compiling 136 strikeouts during her freshman campaign. She struck out a career-high 12 batters at South Dakota and recorded Western's first no-hitter since 2010 against Canisius. Kelsey Marlow returns as Western's leader in batting average (.320) from a season ago. The junior compiled 23 RBI, 47 hits, 10 doubles and led The Summit League with four triples. Rachel Beatty led the team with a .333 batting average during league play and led the team with six home runs.
2016 SEASON RECAP: Western finished third overall in The Summit League regular season a year ago with a 9-8 record in conference play (16-32 overall). The Leathernecks won their final five games of the season and earned the No. 3 seed in the league championship before falling to IUPUI in the first round. As a team, the Leathernecks batted .263 with 160 runs scored off of 332 hits.
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