Nick Helten

Baseball Rides Early Lead to Win Over Carthage

Titans led 7-0 after four innings

5/12/2021 9:38:00 PM

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team extinguished the Firebirds of Carthage College, 11-7, Wednesday night, May 12, at Horenberger Field. With the win, IWU upped its record to 17-20 on the season (12-17 CCIW) and evened the season series against Carthage at 2-2. Meanwhile, the Firebirds fell to 15-21 overall and 10-19 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Freshman Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) was stellar on the mound in the start. He struck out five over five innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run.

Offensively, the Titans and Firebirds tied with eight hits apiece. Juniors Jared Mutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and Dominic DiLello (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart Griffin) paced the Green and White at the plate. Mutter went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, and DiLello finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.

The Titans jumped on the Firebirds early, plating two runs in their first trip to the plate. A RBI double from junior Evan Ranneklev (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley) put IWU in front 1-0. Cyrus helped himself out, doubling the Titan lead with a RBI single up the middle, to give IWU a 2-0 edge after one inning.

DiLello's run-scoring double in the third added to the IWU lead. Then, a Carthage error and a bases loaded walk bumped the advantage to 5-0 into the fourth.

Another miscue brought home IWU's sixth run of the night, before DiLello muscled his second double of the night to center. DiLello's RBI two-base knock opened up a 7-0 Illinois Wesleyan advantage with four innings in the books.

Carthage's offense got going in the fifth, eventually pulling within 11-7 in the ninth inning. With the tying run at the plate and the bases packed, Hunter Simon (Verona, Ill.-Seneca) escaped with a strikeout to preserve the win.

Illinois Wesleyan wraps up the regular season this weekend, May 14-15, with a three-game set against Millikin University. The series gets underway with a 6 p.m. pitch at Horenberger Field Friday night, May 14, before the two teams tangle in Decatur Saturday, May 15, for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

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