MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois softball team continues Summit League action this Friday and Saturday when the IUPUI Jaguars come to town for a 3-game series... The two teams are slated to play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. and a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m... All three game can be heard on WRMSFM.com and Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to air live on ESPN3...
ATOP THE STANDINGS:Â WIU and IUPUIÂ head into the weekend as the top two teams in the league standings... The Jags own the best win-percentage at 5-1 (.833) and the Leathernecks have the most wins and the second best win-percentage at 7-2 (.778).
SERIES HISTORY: Western leads the all-time series 49-17... The Leathernecks won the first 11 games between the two teams and first 20-of-21... The last two seasons have been split 3-3 between the two teams with IUPUI winning the 2015 series in Macomb, 2-1, and the Leathernecks taking last year's series 2-0 in Indianapolis before losing to the Jags in the opening round of The Summit League Tournament, 3-2... WIU is 24-8 all-time versus IUPUI in Macomb.
A LOOK AT IUPUI: The IUPUI Jaguars are 15-22 overall and 5-1 in Summit League play this season... The Jags are 4-7 in true road games this season... IUPUI most recently dropped a non-league game at Notre Dame 13-4 on Wednesday (April 12)... Before that the Jags won their series at North Dakota State, 2-1... The Jaguars took game one 3-1, won game two 11-9 and lost the third game 7-4.
The Jaguars have four players that have started all 37 games for IUPUI and are hitting above .300 to lead IUPUI at the plate in Taylor Chitwood, Alyssa Matson, Roni Patterson and Maggie Good... Chitwood leads the team with a .342 batting average and has 39 hits, nine doubles, one triple, four home runs, 20 RBIs and 18 runs scored on the year... Matson owns a .331 batting average with a team-high 45 hits, nine doubles, one triple, 12 RBIs and 24 runs scored... Patterson is hitting at a .324 clip with a .583 slugging percentage that ranks second on the team... She has 35 hits, seven doubles, seven home runs, 26 RBIs and 20 runs scored... Good is also hitting .324 and leads the Jags with a .619 slugging percentage... She has 24 hits, seven doubles, a team-best eight home runs, a team-high 30 RBIs and 24 runs scored... Erica Tharp and Nickole Finch lead the Jags in the circle...Tharp owns a 4.16 ERA with a 6-12 record, having given up 77 runs (57 earned) on 142 hits with 765 strikeouts and 21 walks... Finch holds a 4.80 ERA with a 9-9 record, having given up 103 runs (87 earned) on 168 hits with 93 strikeouts and 62 walks.
IUPUI is coached by interim head coach Heather Tarter who is in her first season.
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.
MARLOW AND IRA DURING LEAGUE PLAY:Â WIU's Kelsey Marlow has led the Leathernecks at the plate all season, but has been even better during league play... She owns a .424 batting average and a .667 slugging percentage with 14 hits, seven RBIs, three doubles, a triple and a home run... Emily Ira is undefeated during league play with a 4-0 record in five appearance.. She owns a 2.60 ERA with four complete games pitched, 29.2 total innings pitched, has given up 14 runs (11 earned) on 23 hits and recorded 44 strikeouts with only three walks.
LAST TIME OUT:Â Western Illinois softball nearly defeated Missouri in game two but ultimately dropped both games of a non-league doubleheader on Tuesday (April 11)... Missouri won the first game 10-2 in six innings and walked off against Western in game two, 6-5.
UP AHEAD: After the Leathernecks continue Summit League play at home versus IUPUI this weekend, Western is scheduled to wrap up their home schedule the following weekend when North Dakota State come to town April 23-24... The following week the Leathernecks are scheduled to play their final non-league games, first a single game at Iowa on April 26 and then a doubleheader at Iowa State on April 29.
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IN THE NCAA: Individually, Nina Maggio ranks fifth in sacrifice hits per game (0.36)... Emily Ira ranks ninth in walks allowed per seven innings (0.80), 18th in total strikeouts (157) and 39th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.4)... Payton Abbott ranks 87th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.0).
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