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Western Illinois opens Summit League play against IPFW in home opener Friday

May 24, 2008 on 8:10 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - After playing six games in Kansas, the Western Illinois softball team returns home to open conference play against IPFW, Friday at 3 p.m.

New, this season, to The Summit League, IPFW comes to Mary Ellen McKee Stadium to play their first conference game against Western Illinois. The Mastodons (4-8) come to Macomb off a 7-5, 10-inning victory over Cleveland State at the 2008 Rebel Games in Orlando, Fla.

The Westerwinds (1-14) captured their first win against Kansas, 4-3. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of the last game of the Kansas Tournament. Lauren Furgala hit a walk-off home run to defeat the Jayhawks. Western Illinois finished the tournament with a 1-3 record before traveling to Wichita State for a double header.

The Shockers took both wins in extra innings. Western Illinois fell 5-4 in game one and 8-7 in game two. Freshman Beth Golitko led the Westerwinds against Wichita State with a .429 batting average, recording three hits, including a double and two RBIs.

Freshman Colleen Biebel leads the Westerwinds overall with a .324 batting average. Biebel has reecorded 11 hits in 11 games played. She is responsible for scoring five Western Illinois runs and has been successful in stealing seven bases in eight attempts. In addition to her batting and perfect fielding percentage in right field, Biebel has also pitched 3.1 innings, allowing no runs to score.

In the circle, Kamren Ferguson has recorded the most strikeouts for Western Illinois with 57 in 66.1 innings of work and a game-high 15 against Pittsburgh. Ferguson (1-9) holds the lone win for her team with a 3.69 ERA. With a 3.64 ERA, teammate Courtney Jacobson has also had five appeances this season.

A double header Saturday at noon against IPFW will follow Friday’s home opener to complete the first conference series of the season.

Originaly from Source