ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team clinched the No. 2 seed in this week's College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament with a sweep of Elmhurst University in a twin bill Monday, May 2. The Titans blanked the Bluejays, 8-0, in six innings in game one, before overpowering EU 8-2 in the night cap. IWU wraps up the regular season with a record of 24-13 overall and a 12-4 CCIW mark. Meanwhile, Elmhurst's season ends at 10-22, 3-13 in the CCIW.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 8, Elmhurst 0 (6 inn.)
Three straight singles by freshman Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High), sophomore Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), and junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) opened the afternoon. With one, freshman Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) battled for a walk to bring home Kuhn and give IWU an early 1-0 edge.

Moore added an RBI single in the third, scoring Kuhn, to double the Titan lead to 2-0 with the Bluejays coming to bat in the bottom of the frame.

Junior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park), who retired the first 11 batters she faced, saw her no-hit bid end in the fourth as Elmhurst ripped a two-out double down the left field line. The two-bagger did little to shake Grubczak, who promptly retired the next batter to maintain the 2-0 IWU lead into the fifth.

After a RBI single by sophomore Hope Yeoman (Lafayette, Ind.-William Henry Harrison), an error put Illinois Wesleyan's leadoff batter aboard in the sixth. Junior Mikayla Fairfield (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) followed with an infield single and Kuhn reached on a sacrifice attempt to load the bases. The inning continued as Moore received a run-scoring walk before senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) blasted a grand slam to center field, breaking the game wide open as IWU charged ahead, 8-0. With the homer, Palczynski climbed into a tie for second on IWU's all-time home run list alongside Emma Clark with 32 career round-trippers.

The Bluejays notched a single in the bottom of the sixth, but could not muster much more off the hot-throwing Grubczak. The Medinah, Ill. native closed things out with a game-ending grounder to finish off the victory and a strong performance. Tossing six innings of work, Grubczak struck out six and allowed just two hits without surrendering a walk to move to 7-4 in the circle this season.

Illinois Wesleyan finished with nine hits, led by multi-hit days from Kuhn, Moore, and Fairfield. Kuhn stretched her hitting streak to 13 games as she went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while Moore finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a walk, and a run scored. Fairfield rounded things out with a 2-for-3 showing in the nine-hole.

Game Two: Elmhurst 3, Illinois Wesleyan 8
After Turner split the gap in right center, she came around to score on a misplayed fly ball in center off the bat of Moore. Palczynski tacked on another run with an RBI groundout, as IWU's lead grew to 2-0. 

Illinois Wesleyan plated four more runs on six hits and an error in the second. A leadoff single by Yeoman was followed by a bunt single by senior Kaylee Bowers (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central). Fontanetta then singled to load the bases for Fairfield, who laced a single to bring home a run. An error allowed another run to score before Turner's RBI single and Moore's RBI double upped the IWU advantage to 6-0 into the third. 

Three straight singles produced Elmhurst's first run of the afternoon as the Bluejays cut into the Titan lead. EU drove in a second run on an RBI groundout to trim the IWU lead to four, 6-2, through three and a half innings.

The Green and White got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Kuhn singled up the middle and moved into second on a sacrifice bunt before taking third on a wild pitch. Moore singled and swiped second, and Khoury walked to load the bases. Stepping to the plate with two outs and the bags packed, Yeoman cranked a two-run single to put Illinois Wesleyan on top, 8-2.

Elmhurst pushed a run across in the top of the seventh, but senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) slammed the door with a game-ending strikeout.

The Green and White finished with 12 hits as seven different Titans notched hits. Yeoman led the way with a career game, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Turner and Fontanetta each went 2-for-3, while Moore went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. 

Junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) went six innings in the circle, striking out two. She scattered eight hits and allowed two runs. 

As the No. 2 seed in the CCIW Tournament, IWU will play third-seeded Carroll University at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 5. Top-seeded Millikin will serve as the host of the three-day tournament. Full tournament details can be found by clicking here.