ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team used timely hitting to take down Hanover College and 24th-ranked Muskingum University on day one of the Pioneer Classic Saturday, March 19, hosted by Transylvania University. The Titans (5-5) overpowered the Panthers (5-6) 13-2 in five innings before mustering an 8-3 win over the Muskies (8-3).

Game One: Hanover 2, Illinois Wesleyan 13 (5 inn.)
Illinois Wesleyan's offense produced a season-high in runs as the Titans posted double-digit hits for the third straight game. IWU's 11 hits were spread among nine players with junior Mikayla Fairfield (Normal, Ill.-Normal West)  and  senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) recording two apiece. Fairfield finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Palczynski went 2-for-2 with two homers, four RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. 

Senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) tossed all five innings for the Green and White, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with two strikeouts. She moved to 1-1 in the circle on the year with the win.

Monk used some magic to pitch around two singles and a walk, as Hanover came away empty in the first. 

Fairfield continued to show her strength at the top of the lineup, leading off IWU's first trip to the plate with a single. After sophomore Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) moved Fairfield to second on a sacrifice bunt, Palczynski blasted a homerun to give Illinois Wesleyan a 2-0 edge after one frame.

An error paired with two Hanover hits provided the Panthers with their first run of the game. The leadoff batter reached on an error and came around to score on a two-out RBI single to left to cut the Titans' lead in half, 2-1.

Freshman Alison Kern (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) earned a free pass leading off the second and promptly stole second before taking third on a wild pitch. A fielder's choice and hit batter later, Fontanetta put a ball in play to right field. The good-luck triple by Fontanetta plated two on the play. Palczynksi then crushed her second dinger of the game to break things open and push Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 6-1.

Hanover responded with a run on a sacrifice fly following a one-out triple to pull within four, 6-2, after two and a half.

Freshman Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) lifted a liner down the right field line to score senior Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington) from second to extend IWU's lead to five, 7-2. Turner followed with a rope single to left, bringing about a Hanover pitching change with runners on first and second. The change did little to quiet the Green and White offense, as Fairfield drove a single to the right side to score two, before junior Madison Moore's (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) three-run triple and an RBI double off the bat of freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) sent IWU to the fourth with a 13-2 lead.

After Illinois Wesleyan brought in seven runs on six hits in the third, Monk made quick work of the Panthers in the fourth to maintain the 11-run lead. She then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 fifth to wrap up the run-rule victory for the Green and White.

Game Two: No. 24 Muskingum 3, Illinois Wesleyan 8
The IWU bats showed no signs of cooling off in the Titans' second game of the day as Moore's run-scoring triple and Earl's RBI double gave Illinois Wesleyan a 2-0 advantage through one half inning.

Muskingum cracked into the scoring column in the bottom of the second, using two hits to manufacture a run.

Moore kicked off a two-out rally with a walk, and Earl followed with a single through the left side to bring Khoury to the dish. The hot-hitting freshman ripped a double down the right field line to clear the bases and push Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 4-1. 

With junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) dealing, Khoury split the gap in left center to lead off the fifth with a double. Kern followed with a walk before Kuhn's bunt-single and a MU error scored Khoury. Turner walked with two on to load the bases with nobody out and the lineup turning over to the top. Fairfield took full advantage of the opportunity with Muskingum's second baseman playing in and sent a rocket through the right side. After the first run scored easily, Kuhn escaped a pickle and slid home safely. Fontanetta's sacrifice fly brought home Turner to close out the inning and up the IWU lead to 8-1 into the bottom of the sixth.

The Muskies scored twice with just two swings of the bat as back-to-back homers opened MU's half of the sixth. Muskingum made it three straight hits with a single, but Mardjetko settled in as the junior hurler retired the next six batters to close out the 8-3 victory.

The Green and White finished the contest with nine hits, led by Earl, Khoury, and Kern. Earl and Khoury finished 2-for-4 with a run scored each, while Khoury tied Fairfield for the team-high with two RBI. Kern went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk in the contest. 

Mardjetko picked up her third straight win in complete game fashion. The Lemont, Ill. native tossed scattered seven hits through seven innings, with three strikeouts to improve to 3-3 in the circle. 

Illinois Wesleyan wraps up the Pioneer Classic tomorrow, March 20, against Trine University and Transylvania University. IWU takes on Trine at 10 a.m. EST, with a game against Transy set for 12:30 p.m. EST.