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SB | IWU vs Carthage
Kodiak Creative
2
Millikin MILLIKIN 26-5, 8-3 CCIW
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 19-11, 7-2 CCIW
Millikin MILLIKIN
26-5, 8-3 CCIW
2
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
19-11, 7-2 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Millikin MILLIKIN 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 0

W: Grubczak, Natalie (6-3) L: Armstrong, Aly (12-4)

0
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 19-12, 7-3 CCIW
4
Winner Millikin MILLIKIN 27-5, 9-3 CCIW
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
19-12, 7-3 CCIW
0
Final
4
Millikin MILLIKIN
27-5, 9-3 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Millikin MILLIKIN 0 0 0 1 0 3 X 4 8 0

W: Sargent, Addison (12-1) L: Grubczak, Natalie (6-4)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Splits with 23rd-Ranked Millikin

Titans host North Park tomorrow, April 27, at 3 p.m.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In a battle between two of the top teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tuesday night, April 26, at Inspiration Field the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team earned a hard-fought split with 23rd-ranked Millikin University. The Titans (19-12, 7-3 CCIW) claimed game one, 3-2, in eight innings in come-from-behind fashion, while the Big Blue (27-5, 9-3 CCIW) blanked the Green and White, 4-0, in the nightcap.

Game One: No. 23 Millikin 2, Illinois Wesleyan 3 (8 inn.)
A leadoff walk came back to bite IWU in the top of the first as Millikin plated the game's first run on a RBI double. 

The Titans threatened in the bottom half of the first as senior Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington) drew a two-out walk and fellow senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) singled, but they were stranded to leave the deficit, 1-0, into the second.

Huge plays by the Green and White defense over the next two innings kept the Titans within striking distance. Palczynski swiped a liner and doubled off a runner to thwart a Big Blue threat in the second. In the third, junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) helped IWU escape a bases loaded jam as she made a catch in left before throwing out a runner at home in an attempt to tag.

Freshman Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) then evened the score in the bottom half of the third, as she launched her fifth homer of the season, to tie the game at one. Fellow freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) later drew a bases loaded walk to claim a 2-1 Titan lead.

Millikin responded with a run in the fifth, scoring off a RBI double to right center. MU's half of the frame ended on the play as IWU threw out a runner at third, but not before the run scored to knot the game at 2-2.

The score stood into the seventh, where junior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) entered in relief with two on and no outs. She struckout the first batter she faced and Earl caught a runner stealing before Grubczak got the Titans out of the inning with a groundout. 

After Grubczak made quick work of Millikin in the top of the eighth, Moore belted a leadoff double to get the Green and White going. She scooted into third on a MU error before Khoury walked it off with a sacrifice fly to give IWU a 3-2 victory.

IWU finished with six hits in the game, while MU notched seven and committed three errors. Moore led the Green and White, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Kuhn, Earl, and Palczynski picked up IWU's other base knocks. Khoury finished with two RBIs, with Kuhn adding one on her round-tripper.

Grubczak earned the win in relief, where she tossed two hitless innings to close out the win. She struck out two and walked one to boost her record to 6-3 in the circle. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 0, No. 23 Millikin 4
A solo homer by Millikin in the fourth pushed the Big Blue ahead, 1-0. MU then tacked on three key insurance runs in the sixth to up its lead to 4-0 courtesy of a RBI single and a two-run homerun.

IWU's offense could not muster much in the nightcap, as the Titans collected three hits to the Big Blue's eight. Kuhn and Palczynski each went 1-for-3, while Turner went 1-for-2 with a double.

Illinois Wesleyan is right back at it tomorrow, April 27, for the conference doubleheader against North Park University. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Inspiration Field.
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