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George Hartmann

WIU Softball Opens Season in Chicago

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks will play six games in three days in a tournament hosted by DePaul at the Rosemont Dome.

The Weekend Schedule
  • Bowling Green: Feb. 11, 9:30 a.m.
  • Ball State: Feb. 11, 2:30 p.m.
  • Butler: Feb. 12, 12 p.m.
  • Western Michigan: Feb. 12, 5 p.m.
  • Murray State: Feb. 13, 9 a.m.
  • Ball State: Feb. 13, 11:30 a.m.
Where | DePaul Tournament at the Rosemont Dome – Chicago, Ill.
Social media | Instagram and Twitter + #TRADITIONofTOUGH

Matchup history: This weekend's six-game schedule marks the season opener for the 2022 Western Illinois softball, and it comes with six games in three days – all of which are against teams that head the Leathernecks have not played since head coach Alisa Goler arrived in Macomb. On Friday, the Leathernecks will face Bowling Green at 9:30 a.m., and WIU holds a 6-1 all-time record against Falcons. The Leathernecks then play a team in Ball State at 2:30 p.m. that they have not faced since 2010 – though the all-time series dates back to 1975.

On Saturday the team has two more games, starting with Butler at 12 p.m. The Leathernecks and Bulldogs last played in on Feb. 8, 2020 and, though they lost that game, WIU holds a 4-1 advantage all-time. Saturday wraps up with a 5 p.m. first pitch against Western Michigan, a team that the Leathernecks hold an 8-8 record against and have played sparingly in recent years; WIU and WMU have played once in the last 25 years.
 
On Sunday the Leathernecks start the tournament's final day with a 9 a.m. game against Murray State, who WIU is 1-3 against in program history – though the last matchup back in 2018 ended as a 6-0 victory. Western will face Ball State once more at 11:30 in the team's final game of the weekend.

Scouting the Leathernecks: No Leatherneck pitched more innings last season than Abby Carlin, who led the team with 142.2 innings pitched across 31 appearances (22 starts). The Buxley, Iowa, native threw 15 complete games last season and finished with seven wins and a 3.93 ERA while striking out 139. Savannah Rodriguez is coming off a 2021 season that saw her feature as a two-way player for Western Illinois, making 24 appearances (14 starts) in the circle while excelling as a hitter across 45 appearances (44 starts). Rodriguez led the team in batting average (.336), hits (44) and RBIs (33), while finishing second on the team in OPS (.991), doubles (10), home runs (eight) and slugging percentage (.595). Several other players who had significant roles last season are set to play another year for Coach Goler with Piper Foote (45), Bella Alvarez (43), Abrianna Gracia (37), Ami Ill (37) and Maddy Anderson (32) all making 30 or more appearances last season.
 
Nine new players joined the Tradition of Tough since the end of the 2021 season; six freshmen and three transfers. Kayla Zamora, Jillian Morris, Georgia Rea, Cynthia Hull, Kaylee Ketcherside and Megan Leonard are all entering their first season of collegiate softball, while transfers Emily Price (UMSL), Lilli Weir (Highland Community College) and Kaylie Reynolds (Des Moines Area Community College) have previous collegiate experience. Reynolds and Weir were both junior college All-Americans last season.

What's next: Western Illinois is headed to Fayetteville, Ark., to play in a tournament hosted by the University of Arkansas next weekend. Western will play five games against Arkansas, Longwood University (twice) and Wichita State, starting with a matchup against the Razorbacks on Friday (Feb. 18) at 2:30 p.m.
 
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