MACOMB, Ill. – Fighting Leatherneck softball is scheduled to continue Summit League play at Fort Wayne this weekend. The Leathernecks and Mastodons begin the series with a doubleheader at 10 a.m. (CT) on Saturday before playing a single game on Sunday at 10.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks lead the series 22-9 all-time... Western won the first four meetings between the two teams... Fort Wayne then won nine of the next 12 contests, and the Leathernecks have won the last five versus the Mastodons... Last season WIU swept Fort Wayne at home by scores of 13-4, 9-7 and 3-1.
A LOOK AT THE MASTODONS:Â Fort Wayne is 7-26 overall on the year and 0-3 in Summit League play... The Mastodons are 1-3 at home with a win over Toledo and the three losses to North Dakota State (April 1-2)... FW's other victories this season came against: Marist, Mercer, Hartford, Providence, Saint Joseph's and Detroit Mercy.
Fort Wayne is led by Lauren Watson and Caitlyn DeLong at the plate... Watson leads the Mastodons in batting average, hitting at a .371 average... She also is only one of two Mastodons to start all 33 games for FW... She has a team-high 39 hits and eight RBIs... DeLong leads FW with 16 RBIs, four home runs and a .493 slugging percentage... She has played in 31 games, starting 30 of them.
The Mastodons are coached by Germaine Fairchild who took over the program prior to the 2015 season... In the midst of her third season at Fort Wayne, Fairchild is 21-91 overall and 4-35 in league play.
LAST TIME OUT:Â Western Illinois grabbed an early advantage and never gave it up as the Leathernecks completed the series sweep of Omaha with a 5-1 victory Sunday (April 2) in Lincoln... It marked the first time in program history that WIU has swept Omaha in a series.
UP AHEAD: After the Leathernecks journey to Fort Wayne, Ind. for a league series against the Mastodons this weekend, Western is scheduled for a doubleheader at Missouri on April 11 at 4 p.m. in Columbia... WIU then continues league play at home versus IUPUI April 14-15.
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IN THE NCAA: Individually, Nina Maggio ranks eighth in sacrifice hits per game (0.36)... Emily Ira ranks eighth in walks allowed per seven innings (0.74), 25th in strikeouts (135) and 40th in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3)... Payton Abbott ranks 94th in strikeouts per seven innings (6.9)... Kelsey Marlow ranks 98th in triples per game (0.09)... As a team, WIU ranks 72nd in triples per game (0.23) and 107th in home runs per game (0.95).
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IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: As a team, WIU ranks first in stolen bases (29) and batting average against (.251)... Second in triples (7) and walks (96)... Third in runs (127), hits (238), home runs (21), runs batted in (119), total bases (348), sacrifice hits (26), on-base percentage (.333), slugging percentage (.376), earned run average (3.42)... Individually, Emily Ira ranks first in earned run average (2.46), second in strikeouts (135), strikeouts per game (8.31), complete games (15), batting average against (.221) and third in shutouts (1), fourth in wins (6) and innings pitched (113.2)... Kelsey Marlow ranks first in triples (3), second in stolen bases (9), third in doubles (8), runs batted in (22) and sacrifices flies (2)... Holly Hoelting ranks fourth in home runs (6)... 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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