COLUMBUS, Ga. - With the NFCA Leadoff Classic in full-swing, the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team took on another pair of top-20 teams at South Commons Complex Saturday, March 5. IWU (0-4) fell in the opening game of the afternoon, 10-4 to No. 6 Eastern Connecticut State and dropped the nightcap, 12-2, to 20th-ranked Linfield University.

Game one: Eastern Connecticut State 10, Illinois Wesleyan 4
In the bottom of the first, sophomore Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) singled to left field to get things going early on. After the one-out knock, Fontanetta swiped second and senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) walked to put two on, but a strikeout and runner caught stealing thwarted the threat.

ECSU sprung for three runs in the second and third innings to take a 6-0 lead through three and a half frames. The Warriors plated three runs on four hits in the second, before senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) escaped the inning with the bases loaded. The third inning was a repeat of the second as the Warriors scored three runs on four more hits. This time, it was junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) that stranded three to send the Titans to the plate down, 6-0.

Freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia Ill.-Columbia) sent an inside pitch over the left field fence for her first collegiate home run in the bottom of the fourth. The two-run dinger by Khoury brought  in senior Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington), who doubled to deep center field earlier in the inning, to cut the deficit to 6-2 into the fifth. 

ECSU notched another run in the top of the fifth to create a 7-2 cushion, but IWU answered.

The Green and White got the bats rolling with back-to-back, two out, two-baggers in the fifth inning by Fontanetta and Palczyski to cut into the Warriors lead, 7-4 as the Titans' bats sprung for three hits in the inning.

The Warriors expanded the lead in the seventh, taking advantage of a Titan miscue, to notch a 10-4 lead and winning by a final score of 10-4.

Monk took the loss in the circle (0-1). Freshman Rylie Perry (Chesterfield, Mo.-Parkway Central) had a solid relief outing, tossing two innings of work, allowing four hits.

Fontanetta, Earl, and sophomore Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community West) all produced two hit afternoons for the Green and White.

In total, 23 hits were recorded. The Warriors registered 14, while IWU notched a season-high nine.


Game Two: Linfield 12, Illinois Wesleyan 2
Two big innings for Linfield doomed Illinois Wesleyan in the nightcap as the Wildcats scored five in the first and third innings to gain a 10-0 lead heading into the fourth.

Khoury, who notched two of IWU's six hits, broke the shutout with an RBI double to left center to trim the deficit to 10-1.

Linfield tacked on two more runs in the fifth to extend its lead to 12-1, before IWU added a run in the fifth on Earl's RBI single after a leadoff double by Turner. 

The Wildcats led from start to finish, cashing in on IWU miscues. LU went on to win the contest, 12-2, in five innings. 

The Green and White will wrap up play in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, tomorrow, March 6 for another doubleheader. The team will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 9 a.m. ET, followed by No. 18 Belhaven at 11 a.m. ET.