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Joe Prestamer pitching at Wheaton
Dave Naprstek
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 17-24
6
Winner Millikin MILLIKIN 28-13
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
17-24
3
Final
6
Millikin MILLIKIN
28-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 0
Millikin MILLIKIN 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 X 6 7 0

W: Zuk (6-1) L: Blaney, Matt (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Big Inning Dooms Baseball in CCIW Tournament Opener

Titans will play the loser of the Augie-Elmhurst game tomorrow, May 20 at 3:30 p.m.

DECATUR, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team was defeated 6-2 by third-seeded Millikin University in the first round of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Wednesday, May 19. 

With the loss, Illinois Wesleyan (17-24) will face the loser of the Augustana College-Elmhurst University contest. Meanwhile, Millikin (28-13) advances to play the winner of the Augie-Elmhurst game.

The Titans outhit the Big Blue 8-7, but Millikin managed to use one big inning to down IWU. Freshman Will Kafer (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal West) and junior Dominic DiLello (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) notched two hits apiece in the game. Kafer went 2-for-4 with a RBI triple and two runs scored, while DiLello went 2-for-2 with a RBI and a walk. Junior Collin Elvers (Hamel, Ill.-Edwardsville) recorded IWU's other run driven in, as he went 1-for-2 on the day.

Seniors Cooper Kraft (Morton, Ill.-Morton) and Joe Prestamer (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) picked things up in relief, combining for four innings. Kraft went two innings, allowing one hit and striking out two, while Prestamer allowed a run on two hits. Senior Matt Blaney (Tinley Park, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) went four innings as the starter, fanning five.

The Green and White got on the board first, scoring a pair in the top of the second. Sophomore Ethan Burgh (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Prospect) led the inning with a walk and quickly scored on Kafer's triple to the right-center gap. DiLello's fly out to right allowed Kafer to tag up from third, doubling IWU's advantage to 2-0.

Illinois Wesleyan's lead held through three and a half, before Millikin pounced for five runs on three hits. A hit by pitch put a runner aboard with one out and was followed by a RBI triple and a run-scoring single to even the score at 2-2. Another HBP put two on with one out, and a walk loaded the bases. After a sac fly gave MU a 3-2 edge, the Big Blue bolstered their lead with a two-run single to take a 5-2 lead into the fifth.

After Millikin tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, back-to-back-to-back singles by Kafer, DiLello, and Elvers cut the deficit to 6-3. With the tying run at the plate and nobody out, a strikeout and a double play thwarted the Titan comeback.

Illinois Wesleyan will square off with either No. 2 seed Augustana or No. 7 seed Elmhurst tomorrow, May 20, at 3:30 p.m. on the campus of North Central College. 

 
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