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Baseball Set to Tangle with Eastern Illinois

First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Horenberger Field

4/26/2022 9:16:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After a three-game road stint, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team is set to host Division I Eastern Illinois University, Wednesday, April 27 at Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. IWU owns a 15-14 overall record ahead of the matchup, which is scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch, while the Panthers are 25-12.

Since this game was originally scheduled to be played in Charleston, Ill., Eastern will be the home team on the scoreboard.

The Titans last took to the diamond Saturday, April 23 for a doubleheader versus College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin rival, Millikin. The Big Blue upped its winning streak to six games with a sweep of the twin bill by final scores of 7-2 and 10-4.

Eastern Illinois saw similar results in its last competition, Friday-Saturday, April 22-23, in Ohio Valley Conference action with a three-game set against Murray State. The Racers swept the Panthers with final scores of 17-10, 15-9, and 24-20.

For the team's 29 games so far this season, Dominic DiLello (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart Griffin) is assembling a stat-stuffing senior season campaign. As of April 24, the centerfielder tops the team with his .452 batting average. This clip is good for the 18th-highest batting average in all of Division III. In addition, DiLello paces the offensive attack with his team-leading 1.201 OPS, .634 slugging percentage, and 13 hit by pitches.

Senior Evan Ranneklev (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley) is producing an equally impressive year as he leads the team with 109 at bats, 36 runs, 44 hits, and 65 total bases.

Junior Jalen Ping (Chatham, Ill.-Glenwood) and senior Jared Mutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) are the only two Titans to have started every game this season. Ping is second on the team with 106 at bats to go along with 31 driven in. Mutter is two at bats shy of the century mark with 33 hits and eight two-baggers.

As of April 24, IWU's offense checks in at 23rd in Division III with a combined .336 batting average. The team has generated 12 round-trippers, 221 RBI, 470 total bases, and 80 doubles for the season.

On the bump, the trio of sophomore Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South), junior Scott Monocchio (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West), and senior Jacob Duffy (Pontiac, Ill.-Pontiac) have combined to earn 11 of the teams 15 victories thus far. In total, the three have worked 114.1 innings of the available 222.2 so far, which is 51.3 percent of the total innings.

Live stats for the contest can be found by clicking here.

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