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Dominic DiLello celebrates a home run with Ranneklev and Greer
Dave Naprstek
11
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 8-6
9
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON 5-5
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
8-6
11
Final
9
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON
5-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 2 11 17 2
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON 0 0 0 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 10 1

W: Kraft, Cooper (1-0) L: McCraith, J. (1-1) S: Blaney, Matt (1)

5
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 8-6, 2-5 CCIW
2
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON 5-6, 3-2 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
8-6, 2-5 CCIW
5
Final
2
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON
5-6, 3-2 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 6 1
Wheaton (IL) WHEATON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 9 2

W: Simon, Hunter (2-0) L: Garrity, J. (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Sweeps Thunder in Thrilling Fashion

Titans win game one 11-9 in extras, take game two 5-2

CAROL STREAM, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team swept a doubleheader against Wheaton College at Pfund Stadium Saturday, March 27. The Titans outlasted the Thunder in 11 innings to take game one 11-9, before completing the sweep with a 5-2 victory in game two. 

With the wins IWU moves to 9-6 on the season and 4-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Wheaton saw its record fall to 5-6 overall and 3-2 in CCIW play.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 11, Wheaton 9 (11 inn.)
The Green and White pounded out 17 hits in the game, while Wheaton finished with 10. Six Titans picked up multi-hit efforts, led by junior Jack Schneider (Naperville, Ill.-Benet Academy) and freshman Will Kafer (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal West). Schneider went 3-for-5 with a run scored, one RBI, and a walk, while Kafer finished 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored. Senior Dominic DiLello (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart Griffin) tied for the team lead with three RBIs in a 2-for-5 day, highlighted by a home run. He also scored two runs and walked twice. Junior Cole Greer (Springfield, Ill.-Pleasant Plains), freshman Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South), and junior Jared Mutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) each added two hits apiece, while junior Evan Ranneklev (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley) added two RBIs.

On the mound, Illinois Wesleyan's bullpen proved to be the saving grace as seniors Nick Watson (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), Cooper Kraft (Morton, Ill.-Morton), and Matt Blaney (Tinley Park, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) tossed five scoreless out of the pen. Kraft ultimately picked up the win, his first of the year, while Blaney recorded the save.

With Illinois Wesleyan staring down a 9-4 deficit, Cyrus singled to put runners on the corners for sophomore Ethan Burgh (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Prospect) with one out in the seventh. Digging into the batter's box after a Wheaton pitching change, Burgh ripped a RBI double to left center. Kafer followed with a double of his own, scoring two, and Mutter finished off the inning with a run-scoring single to pull IWU within one, 9-8.

A leadoff home run off the bat of DiLello in the eighth evened the score at 9-9 with the Thunder coming to bat in the bottom half of the inning. 

Kraft worked around a leadoff single to maintain the tie into the ninth, where he pitched a 1-2-3 inning to send the game to extras.

The Titans eventually rallied with two outs in the eleventh, beginning with Schneider's walk. A ground-rule double from freshman Nick Pratscher (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) put runners on second and third. DiLello came up huge once again, this time singling to center to bring in two and put Illinois Wesleyan up 11-9.

Blaney entered in the bottom half of the 11th, and settled in after a hit by pitch to strikeout the side and preserve the 11-9 victory.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 5, Wheaton 2
Illinois Wesleyan notched six hits in game two, with Greer and Rannklev leading the way. Greer finished the nightcap 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI, while Rannklev went 2-for-5 with a run driven in. Schneider was credited with IWU's other RBI, as the junior went 1-for-3 with a dinger.

After Illinois Wesleyan turned to the bullpen early and often in game one, senior Hunter Simon (Verona, Ill.-Seneca) came through with a complete game in the finale. Simon struck out nine and scattered nine hits, while allowing two runs, only one of which was earned.

The Titans jumped on the Thunder right away in game two, plating four runs over the first two innings. In the first, Ranneklev slid home safely on a passed ball to give the Green and White a 1-0 edge. 

Illinois Wesleyan tacked on three more in the second, as Schneider parked one over the fence in left center for his first homer of the season. DiLello drew a two-out walk, and came home on Ranneklev's RBI single. IWU plated one more on a balk, to put its lead at 4-0 into the third.

Wheaton broke the shutout with a run on a RBI groundout in the third to cut Illinois Wesleyan's advantage to three, 4-1. 

The three-run cushion stood into the eighth, where Greer drew a bases-loaded walk to up the score to 5-1. 

Wheaton made the most of a miscue in the ninth, as the leadoff batter reached base via error before back-to-back singles cut the Titans' lead to three, 5-2. Simon came up with a huge strikeout and then retired the next two batters to strand two and give IWU the doubleheader sweep with a 5-2 win.

Illinois Wesleyan remains on the road Tuesday, March 30, when the Titans travel to Naperville, Ill. for a game at nationally ranked North Central College. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

 
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