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Colleen Palczynski batting versus Carthage
Davis Nguy
7
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20-9, 17-6 CCIW
2
North Park NPU 15-16, 9-16 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
20-9, 17-6 CCIW
7
Final
2
North Park NPU
15-16, 9-16 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 7 6 2
North Park NPU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 3

W: Grubczak, Natalie (9-3) L: Malicki, Alyssa (6-10)

5
North Park NPU 15-17, 9-17 CCIW
8
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21-9, 18-6 CCIW
North Park NPU
15-17, 9-17 CCIW
5
Final
8
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
21-9, 18-6 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
North Park NPU 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 5 8 1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 0 1 7 X 8 9 2

W: Mardjetko, Nina (7-2) L: Feazelle, Rachael (8-7)

Game Recap: Softball |

Big Innings Propel Softball to Comeback Wins at North Park

IWU moves to 21-9 overall, 18-6 in the CCIW

CHICAGO - Two big innings propelled the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team to a pair of come-from-behind wins at North Park University Sunday, April 25. With the wins, the Titans completed a four-game sweep of the Vikings and boosted their record to 21-9 overall and 18-6 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. North Park dipped to 15-17 on the year, including a 9-17 CCIW mark.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 7, North Park 2
Junior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) tied the single-season home run record with a pair of homers in a 2-for-4 effort. She finished with five RBIs and a pair of runs scored while tying Sam Berghoff's HR mark with 13. Fellow junior Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington) also picked up multiple hits in a 2-for-4 showing. 

Sophomore Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) went all nine innings in the circle, earning the win and moving to 9-3 on the year. She struck out eight, walked one, and allowed two runs on six hits in her eighth complete game of the season.

North Park quickly took a 2-0 lead on a two-run single in the bottom of the first, a lead the Vikings carried into the fourth inning.

IWU broke the shutout in the top of the fourth in a big way. Earl singled with one away and Palczynski followed with a monster home run to left center, evening the score at 2-2.

With Grubczak pitching her way out of a few jams, the game went to extras with the 2-2 tie still intact.

North Park put the winning-run in scoring position with one out in the eighth, but Grubczak got a groundout and a strikeout to maintain the tie.

Illinois Wesleyan notched its first hit since Palczynski's round-tripper in the ninth, as junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) laced a triple down the right field line. Freshman Kristina Sherwin (Plainfield, Ill.-St. Francis) followed with a RBI knock, and moved to second on Earl's bunt-single. Digging into the batter's box with two aboard and nobody out, Palczynski clubbed her second homer of the day to up the Titan lead to 6-2. A pair of errors made way for another run to make it 7-2 in favor of IWU into the bottom of the ninth.

Grubczak worked around a leadoff single in the Vikings half of the inning, with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to seal the comeback victory.

Game Two: North Park 3, Illinois Wesleyan 8
The Titans finished with nine hits, spread amongst seven players, in game two. Senior Hannah Heraty (Libertyville, Ill.-Libertyville) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and freshman Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) finished 2-for-2 with three runs driven in. 

Junior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) and sophomore Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) shouldered pitching duties. Monk threw the first four innings, allowing three runs on four hits, and struck out four. Mardjetko closed out the game and picked up the win. She allowed two runs on four hits and fanned five to move to 7-2 on the season.

North Park jumped out to a 3-0 lead with runs in the first, second, and third innings. 

Freshman Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth and was bunted over to second. With two outs and Fontanetta on second, Turner roped a single down the left field line to cut IWU's deficit to two, 3-1.

North Park's two-run lead held into the bottom of the sixth, where Illinois Wesleyan erupted for seven runs on seven hits. Sherwin's one-out double got things rolling, and was followed by a RBI single off the bat of Earl. A walk by Palczynski and a single by senior Lexy Trammell (Peoria, Ill.-Limestone) loaded the bases for senior Toni Tortorella (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South), who blooped a single to right to even the score at 3-3. Heraty kept the hit party alive with a two-run single to right, and Turner followed suit with a bases clearing double to push the Titans' lead to 7-3. Moore tacked on one more with a RBI single of her own to put the IWU lead at 8-3 with the Vikings coming to the plate for the final time.

The Vikings made things interesting in the seventh, scoring two runs on two hits, but Mardjetko finished off the 8-5 victory with a strikeout to complete the season sweep.

Illinois Wesleyan returns home for a four-game homestand, beginning with a doubleheader against North Central College Tuesday, April 27. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Inspiration Field.

 
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