BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team kicks off its spring break trip to Tucson, Ariz. at the NFCA Leadoff Classic Friday-Sunday, March 6-8. The Titans will play six games over the three-day span, including clashes with the top-two ranked teams in the country.

IWU begins the tournament Friday night with a 6 p.m. MT matchup with No. 1 Texas Lutheran, followed by an 8 p.m. MT first pitch against Pacific Lutheran. The Titans square off with Emory and Henry and  No. 2 Christopher Newport at 1:30 p.m. MT and 3:30 p.m. MT, respectively. Illinois Wesleyan wraps up the tournament Sunday versus Berry (11 a.m. MT) and Saint Benedict (1 p.m. MT).

IWU is 2-0 on the season following a sweep of Illinois College, Feb. 20, that saw senior Ally Wiegand (Downs, Ill.-Downs Tri-Valley) toss a perfect game in a 4-0 win in game one. The seven-inning masterpiece earned Wiegand NFCA Pitcher of the Week and CCIW Pitcher of the Week honors. Wiegand and senior Brea Walker (Gibson City, Ill.-GCMS) combined to hold IC batters to a .056 average, while racking up 26 strikeouts.

Senior Sam Berghoff (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney Young) and sophomore Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington) enter the weekend tied for the team lead in batting average at .600. Berghoff smacked two homers and scored three runs in IWU's season-opening doubleheader, while Earl tops the team with five RBI.

Links on how to follow the games can be found on the softball schedule page on IWUsports.com or by clicking here.