Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WHEATON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan softball team earned a share of the school's 11th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin softball championship with a pair of wins at Wheaton College on Monday morning (7-1 and 5-1).

The Titans improved to 33-6 overall and finished 11-3 in the CCIW, tied with Carthage for the league title. The Titans previously won CCIW championships in 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
IWU will be the top seed and host the CCIW tournament Friday and Saturday as a result of earning the league tiebreaker when Millikin swept Augustana Monday afternoon in Rock Island, Ill. The Titans meet No. 4 seed Elmhurst (25-14, 7-7 CCIW) in the opening round while No. 2 seed Carthage faces No. 3 Millikin (22-16, 9-5 CCIW). Friday, May 4
12 p.m. - Game One: #3 Millikin vs. #2 Carthage
2 p.m. - Game Two: #4 Elmhurst vs. #1 Illinois Wesleyan
4 p.m. - Game Three: Game One loser vs. Game Two loser
6 p.m. - Game Four: Game One winner vs. Game Two winner
Saturday, May 5
10 a.m. - Game Five: Game Four loser vs. Game Three winner
12 p.m. - Game Six: Game Four winner vs. Game Five winner
2 p.m. - Game Seven: Necessary only if Game Five winner defeats Game Four winner in Game Six

GAME ONE
Sophomore lefthander Molly McCready went to 14-3 with the pitching win, allowing two hits and striking out nine, including five straight in the fifth and sixth.

The Titans trailed 1-0 in the second when junior third baseman Emma Clark reached on a fielding error by the leftfielder and, with one out, freshman first baseman Chloe Montgomery slugged a two-run homer to left.

IWU added four in the fifth as sophomore second baseman Erin Sweeney led off with a home run to left field. Junior shortstop Courtney Martin and freshman Audra James eached on infield singles and an error on the shortstop allowed junior centerfielder Keri Leach to reach base and scored Martin.
After Clark got on via a fielder's choice, sophomore designated hitter Allie Riordan walked to load the bases, setting up Montgomery's single to centerfield that plated two more runs to give her four RBI in the game.

The final Titan runs came in the sixth. With one out, Martin singled up the middle and stole second. James hit into a fielder's choice that advanced Martin to third and she scored on a sacrifice fly by Leach.

GAME TWO
The Titans trailed 1-0 in the third before scoring the remainder of the runs in the game, starting with one in the third. With the bases empty and two out,  James reached on a bunt single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Clark through the left side.

IWU went up 2-1 in the fourth as sophomore first baseman Jessica Toth led off with a walk, sophomore catcher Sara Daley singled and Riordan delivered a pinch single to score Toth.

Wesleyan added three more in the sixth. Toth again led off with a walk and went to second on a sacrifice by Alyssa Vorel. Daley singled to leave runners at the corners and the bases were loaded after an infield single by Stephanie Polich. Martin then tripled to clear the bases for three RBI and came home on a bunt single by James.

Vorel improved to 11-2 as she went six innings, allowed one run on four hits and struck out three. Junior Katie Bruins pitched the seventh.

The Thunder finiished 22-18 and 4-10 against the league.

NOTES: The 33 wins is tied for fifth most in an IWU softball season. The record is 39 (2001), followed by 38 (2003), 37 (2009), 34 (1994). The 2010 team also posted 33 victories...McCready is sixth all-time with 273 strikeouts and her total of 167 is third most in a single season. She is currently first in an IWU season for most strikeouts per seven innings (11.13) and lowest opponent batting average (.140)...Vorel is 15th in career wins at IWU with 22 (22-7, 2010-12) and McCready is tied for 16th with 21 (21-7, 2011-12)...IWU has a team batting average of .339, third best in a season. Only the 1978 team (.358) and the 1977 team (.354) have had higher averages...This year's team has slammed 26 home runs, trailing only the 33 hit by the team in 2007 and 31 in 2011...