KENOSHA, Wis. - Facing elimination with a loss, the Illinois Wesleyan softball team won three games on Sunday, May 9, to win the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament championship and automatic qualification to NCAA Division III tournament.

Illinois Wesleyan beat North Central to open the day, 11-5, then defeated Augustana by scores of 7-4 and 3-2 to win the championship, held in Kenosha, Wis. at Carthage College. This is Illinois Wesleyan's second straight and sixth overall CCIW tournament championship and this will make it IWU's fourth straight appearance and 10th overall showing in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The NCAA Division III tournament consists of a 60-team championship field, which will be announced Monday, May 10 at 11 a.m Central.

This is also IWU's fifth straight 30-win season and the 13th since the 1991 team was the first to win 30.

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Augustana 2 - Box Score

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, IWU tied the game when, with one out, sophomore Kayla Mahoney and freshman Rachel Soltwedel pinch ran for her. Soltwedel advanced to second on a wild pitch and junior leftfielder Jen Monaco singled to left field and went to second on a throwing error with Soltwedel going to third. After a fly out, freshman Jaci Forsythe delivered a single to center field, scoring Monaco and Soltwedel.
The Titans scored the winning run in the fifth when freshman centerfielder Stephanie Polich walked and with one out, went to second on a ground out by senior shortstop Allison Ward. Freshman Alyssa Vorel then doubled to left center to score Polich and put the Titans ahead 3-2.
Senior Christy Engel (11-9) pitched the final three innings, allowing only one hit with a walk and a strikeout in relief of Vorel, who started and went four innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks.

Illinois Wesleyan 7, Augustana 4 - Box Score

As in the first game of the day, IWU jumped out to an early lead and never trailed, scoring four in the second and three more in the third to go up on the Vikings, 7-0.
The four-run second inning started when Monaco singled up the middle and went to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Forsythe walked and Polich reached on an error to score Monaco. Engel walked to lead the bases before Ward doubled to right center to bring home all three runners.
Engel pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks before being relieved by Vorel, who picked up the win and improved to 6-2. She pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowed one run on three hits and struck out one.

Illinois Wesleyan 11, North Central 5 - Box Score

Illinois Wesleyan got 14 hits in an 11-5 win over North Central. In eliminating the Cardinals (31-12), the Titans exploded for six runs on five hits in the first inning against North Central's starting pitcher Lyndsey Payne, who shut out IWU on four hits Saturday. She lasted only one-third of an inning.
On Sunday, Polich led off the game with a triple down the rightfield line and scored when Engel singled. Ward forced Engel at second before Alyssa Vorel singled up the middle. Mahoney walked to load the bases and Monaco singled to score Ward. Another run scored and the bases stayed loaded when Kris Lee reached on an error.
Forsythe cleared the bases with a double to center field, putting the Titans ahead 6-0. IWU added two more in the second and one in the third and Lee hit a two-run home run in the sixth to boost the IWU lead to 11-5.
In relief of Engel, freshman Katie Bruins was the winning pitcher and improved to 8-3 while Lauren James earned her fourth save of the season.