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SB | IWU vs Chicago
Kodiak Creative
1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21-13
5
Winner North Central NCC 22-8
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
21-13
1
Final
5
North Central NCC
22-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0
North Central NCC 0 0 0 1 4 0 X 5 7 1

W: Corban (13-2) L: Mardjetko, Nina (9-5)

3
North Central NCC 21-9
4
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 22-13
North Central NCC
21-9
3
Final
4
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
22-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
North Central NCC 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 8 0
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 4 6 0

W: Monk, Madie (4-3) L: Corban (13-3) S: Grubczak, Natalie (1)

Game Recap: Softball |

Kuhn’s Clutch Hit Propels Softball to Split at North Central

Titans wrap up regular season at Elmhurst, April 30

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - A clutch seventh-inning performance in game two saw the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team split with North Central College Thursday, April 28, in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. North Central (21-9, 11-5 CCIW) overpowered Illinois Wesleyan (22-13, 10-4 CCIW), 5-1, in game one, before freshman Jen Kuhn's (Normal, Ill.-University High) walk-off single gave IWU a 4-3 win in the nightcap. 

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 1, North Central 5
The game sat deadlocked 0-0 after three and a half before North Central used a two-out RBI double to stake a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals piled on four more runs on four hits in the fifth. Another RBI two-bagger and a three-run homer upped the NCC advantage to 5-0. Senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) entered the game in relief, with two on and one out, and induced an inning-ending double play to send the game to the sixth.

Kuhn continued her hot streak, sending a ball into the left-center ally. With Kuhn on third and one out, junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) provided IWU's lone run of the game on a run-scoring single to trim the deficit to 5-1.

The Titans were outhit 7-3 in the contest. Kuhn went 1-for-2 with a run scored and a walk, while Moore and senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) recorded hits in 1-for-3 showings. 

Junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) started the game and went 4.1 innings with four strikeouts. Monk tossed the final 1.2 frames, allowing just one hit. 

Game Two: North Central 3, Illinois Wesleyan 4
Monk and North Central's Gianna Corban took a scoreless pitcher's duel into the fourth inning in game two. 

NCC struck first, stringing together a few base knocks to manufacture a run and a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth.

IWU evened the score quickly, as Palczynski pounded a solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth to knot the score at one all. Palczynski's homer, which was Illinois Wesleyan's first hit of the game, was her eighth of the season and the 31st of her career. She now sits just two round-trippers shy of the Titan career record of 33 held by Sam Berghoff. 

Junior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) worked the Titans out of a jam in the sixth, fanning back-to-back Cardinals to strand two and keep the game even, 1-1.

The Green and White pounced for two runs on two hits and a walk in the sixth to take its first lead of the day. Sophomore Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) started the two-out rally with a hit to center and Moore walked to chase Corban from the game and bring about a pitching change for NCC. After intentionally walking the power-hitting Palczynski, freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) made the Cardinals pay. The Titan first baseman came through with a clutch two-out, two-run single through the left side to push IWU ahead, 3-1. 

North Central battled back with a two-out, two-run single to right in the top of the seventh to tie the score at three.

The Titan underclassmen proved to be the heroes in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Hope Yeoman (Lafayette, Ind.-William Henry Harrison) got things started with a leadoff single. Freshman Kennady Estes (Warrenton, Mo.-Warrenton) followed with the first hit of her career and sophomore Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) walked to load the bases and turn over the lineup. The walk brought the hot-hitting freshman Kuhn to the plate, where she capitalized on the opportunity with a rip to left to lift IWU to a 4-3 victory.

Monk tossed five innings, striking out one, and yielding one run on five hits before Grubczak entered in relief and notched the win. Grubczak threw the final two-plus innings, striking out four, to lead the Titans to the win.

The Green and White finished with six hits to the Cardinals' eight. The hits were spread evenly across six Titans, with Khoury finishing 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs and Palczynski going 1-for-2 with a homer. Kuhn's RBI hit came in a 1-for-4 effort.

Illinois Wesleyan closes out the regular season Saturday, April 30, at Elmhurst University. The twin bill between the Titans and Bluejays is scheduled for 1 p.m. 
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