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Softball Travels to Decatur for CCIW Tournament

Titans in search of first conference tournament title since 2019

5/4/2022 4:55:00 PM

Tournament Central

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team begins its pursuit of its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship since 2019 Thursday afternoon, May 5, in Decatur, Ill. The second-seeded Titans will take on third-seeded Carroll University Thursday at 3 p.m. at Millikin University's Workman Family Softball Field.

Illinois Wesleyan finished the regular season runner-up in the conference with a 12-4 CCIW mark and enters the tournament with a 24-13 overall record. IWU most recently swept Elmhurst, May 2, defeating the Bluejays 8-0 and 8-3. Carroll enters the tournament with a 19-13 overall record, which includes an 11-5 CCIW record which was good for third-best in the league. The Pioneers finished up the regular season with a split against Carthage, April 28, coming back to win the nightcap, 11-3 after falling in game one, 3-1.

The Titans and Pioneers split a regular season twin bill in Bloomington, April 16. The Green and White run-ruled Carroll, 8-0 in five innings, before CU stormed back to take game two, 6-3. The winner of Thursday's game will advance to game five of the tournament Friday, May 6, at noon. The loser will play the loser of the North Central-Carthage game at 7 p.m. Thursday evening, May 5. A full schedule of the tournament can be found on the https://cciw.org/sports/2021/6/21/SB_0621213458.aspxCCIW website by clicking here.

Illinois Wesleyan heads into the conference tournament ranked third in team batting average (.285), second in team earned run average (2.36), and first in fielding percentage (.979). IWU is one of two teams in the league to be listed in the top-three in each of the three categories.

Individually, the CCIW's top-three home run threats are Titans. Senior Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) leads the conference with eight against CCIW competition, while freshmen Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) and Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) are tied for second with five blasts each. Palczynski is also second in the conference in RBIs (24) and third in hits (21). The senior third baseman and Kuhn are tied for third in the league in runs scored (15).

In the circle, IWU has three pitchers in the league's top-10 in ERA. Junior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) paces Illinois Wesleyan with a 1.75 clip. Junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) checks in at seventh (2.10), with senior Madie Monk (Manteno, Ill.-Manteno) sitting eighth (2.21). Mardjetko's seven league wins are a CCIW-best, while she is fifth in opposing batting average (.209), and strikeouts (41).

The Green and White's tournament journey kicks off Thursday, May 5, with a 3 p.m. tilt against Carroll. Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 for seniors, students, and children six-and-over, while children five-and-under are free. A live stream of the game will be available here, while live stats can be found here.

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