Softball Senior Day Highlights Four-Game Weekend

Titans to host Carthage Saturday, April 23, for Senior Day, then play North Park April 24

4/22/2022 1:30:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team opens up a busy final week of the regular season with College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin doubleheaders Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24, at Inspiration Field. The Titans will tangle with Carthage College tomorrow, April 23, as part of Senior Day, while Sunday will feature a 12 p.m. twin bill with North Park University.

Illinois Wesleyan will honor seniors Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington), Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect), Kaylee Bowers (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central), and Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno). Together, the group has been part of 92 wins and have helped compile a .713 winning percentage during their careers thus far. The group fueled IWU to a CCIW Regular Season Championship, a CCIW Tournament title, and a run to the NCAA Softball World Series in 2019.

The Titans enter the weekend with a 17-10 overall record and currently sit atop the CCIW standings at 5-1 in league games. IWU is coming off a split with Carroll, April 16, that saw the Green and White run-rule the Pioneers, 9-0, before coming up short in the second game, 6-3. Carthage heads into Bloomington with an 11-11 overall record, while the Firebirds are 5-3 in the CCIW after splitting twin bills against North Central, Augustana, and North Park. Most recently, Carthage split a non-conference set at UW-Whitewater, where the Firebirds won 9-0 and fell 1-0, April 21. NPU, which only has four league games remaining on its schedule, is 4-8 in the CCIW and 12-16 overall.

Illinois Wesleyan has a long history with both Carthage and North Park that dates back to the 1997 season. The Titans hold a 57-21 lead in the all-time series with CC, and has won seven straight against the Firebirds. Last season, IWU swept a doubleheader at Carthage 3-2 and 4-0, before edging Carthage, 4-1, in the conference tournament. Despite IWU's strong hold in the series, the games have been consistently tight, with just three of the 78 meetings coming via run-rule.

Against North Park, the Green and White holds a commanding 50-0 lead, having won every meeting since defeating the Vikings, 7-3, April 9, 1997. The Titans escaped Chicago with a sweep last season, as IWU won two against NPU, April 25, 2021. Illinois Wesleyan used a five-run ninth-inning to edge the Vikings, 7-2, in extra innings. The Titans then held off a late NPU push to win game two, 8-5.

Freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) has seemingly found her stride as the Titans have dipped into CCIW play. Khoury is hitting a hefty .500 with eight hits in 16 at bats. Half of her hits have been homers, while the freshman has driven in seven and scored a team-high six runs. Palczynski leads the team with nine RBIs in conference play, helped by her two homers as she is hitting .316 at the dish. Earl has also belted two round-trippers, and is second on the team with a .389 CCIW batting average.

In the circle, Monk and junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) have pieced together strong starts to the conference season. Monk boasts a staff-best .66 earned run averaged over 10.2 innings of work, while Mardjetko is holding opponents to a .190 clip and has fanned a team-high 14. As a whole, IWU's pitching staff owns a 1.97 ERA in league games and has limited the opposition to a .221 batting average.

Saturday's Senior Day festivities are scheduled to begin around 12:40 p.m., while Hayley Earl will also be presented with the CCIW's Chris Martin Perseverance Award pregame. First pitch against Carthage is scheduled for 1 p.m., while the IWU-NPU doubleheader is set for a noon first pitch Sunday, April 24. Links to follow the games can be found on the softball schedule page on IWUsports.com.

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