WHEATON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team started College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play with a doubleheader sweep of Wheaton College Saturday, April 9. With the wins, the Titans ran their win streak to nine and moved to 14-7 (2-0 CCIW) on the season. Wheaton dipped to 11-13 on the year and slipped to 1-7 in conference games.
 
Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 4, Wheaton 1
The Titans used four runs over the final three innings to take down the Thunder, 4-1, in game one. IWU outhit Wheaton, 8-6, as senior Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington) and freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) each went 2-for-3 on the day. Khoury, along with senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect), freshman Alison Kern (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), and sophomore Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) notched one RBI each.
 
A stalemate after four innings, the Titans broke through for a run in the top of the fifth. Khoury, who reached on a leadoff single and took second in a wild pitch, crossed the plate on Turner's one-out double.
 
Following a 1-2-3 bottom half of the inning by junior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park), the Green and White sprung for three runs on three hits in the sixth. Junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) singled to get the inning started. She scored on Palczynski's double to center, before a two-bagger by Khoury boosted the IWU lead to three. A sacrifice fly by Kern capped the inning, and Illinois Wesleyan's scoring to push the Titans advantage to 4-0.
 
After stranding two in the bottom half of the sixth, the Thunder capitalized with runners on in the bottom of the seventh. A RBI single scored Wheaton's lone run of the game, as Grubczak stranded two with a pop up and groundout to thwart the Thunder's rally.
 
Grubczak moved to 4-1 on the season as she picked up the win in the circle. The Medinah, Ill. native scattered six hits over seven innings of work, while striking out one.
 
Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 5, Wheaton 0
Illinois Wesleyan completed the CCIW-opening sweep with a 5-0 victory in game two. IWU used seven hits and three Thunder errors to blank Wheaton, which finished with four hits.
 
Kern led IWU's offense with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, while Illinois Wesleyan's five other hits were spread evenly across five players. Earl finished the game 1-for-3 with a homer. Junior Mikayla Fairfield (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) added two RBIs on a 1-for-3 showing, while Khoury drove one in as well.
 
Senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) threw a complete game shutout in the circle en route to her third win of the year. The senior hurler fanned five and allowed just four hits for her third career shutout.
 
A single by Palczynski and an error put two on with nobody out for the hot-hitting Khoury in the second. Stepping up to the challenge, Khoury ripped a single to left to score one. Fairfield laced a two-out double to center to score two and extend IWU's edge to 3-0 into the third inning.
 
Illinois Wesleyan put two more runs on the board, scoring one in the fourth and another in the fifth, to give Monk plenty of insurance. Kuhn led the fourth of with a single and promptly swiped second. She cruised into third on an airmailed throw and scored as Kern swiped second.
 
The Titans' final run of the game came courtesy of a solo homerun by Earl in the fifth, upping the score to 5-0.
 
Monk made quick work of Wheaton in the sixth and overcame back-to-back singles in the seventh to close out the victory.
 
Illinois Wesleyan continues CCIW play with a twin bill at Augustana College tomorrow, April 10. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Rock Island.