BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team concluded its home tournament unbeaten for the second year in a row Sunday, April 2, as the Titans (9-10) took down University of Wisconsin-Stout and DePauw University. IWU run-ruled UW-Stout, 8-0, in game one of the day, before wrapping up the tournament with an eight-inning thriller, 9-8, against the Tigers. 

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 8, UW-Stout 0 (5 inn.)
Strong defense, highlighted by an inning-ending double play, kept the game scoreless into the third. 

Playing as the visiting team, senior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) led off the top of the third with a walk and quickly scooted home on junior Megan Fontanetta's (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) RBI double. A two-bagger from sophomore Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) followed, bringing in Fontanetta. After junior Maya Black (Springfield, Ill.-Glenwood) took a pitch off the arm, freshman Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) battled back from being down in the count. Post blooped a single to left, extending the IWU lead to 3-0.

Senior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) pitched around a leadoff double in the bottom of the frame to keep the score intact. Following the extra-base knock, Grubczak fanned the next batter. Freshman Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) then made a web gem of a play on a bunt before a grounder stranded a Blue Devil runner on third.

IWU tacked on two more in the fourth as junior Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), Moore, and sophomore Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) came through with singles. Kuhn drove in Turner and then initiated a pickle between first and second, which allowed Moore to successfully steal home. The heady play pushed the Titan lead to 5-0.

Another UW-Stout leadoff double was stranded in the fourth, as Grubczak struck out back-to-back batters to maintain the shutout into the fifth.

Illinois Wesleyan finished off the scoring in the fifth, as Post singled through the left side. After Post was lifted for the freshman speedster Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) junior Priscilla Peek (Deer Creek, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame), bunted to move the runner to second. Turner ripped an RBI double down the left field line, and then used a wild pitch to scoot into third. Senior Ambria May (Shorewood, Ill.-Joliet West) came through with a pinch-hit run-scoring single and Khoury capped the inning with an RBI knock through the left side. The three-run inning broke the game open for the Titans, 8-0.

Grubczak finished off the game in the fifth, stranding two, to preserve the five-inning shutout win.

IWU broke out the bats for 10 hits, led by three multi-hit efforts. Khoury finished 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, while Turner went 2-for-3 with two runs and one driven in. Post rounded out the showings, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. 

Tossing a complete-game, four-hit shutout, Grubczak fanned six and walked one to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Game Two: DePauw 8, Illinois Wesleyan 9 (8 inn.)
Illinois Wesleyan spotted the Tigers a 3-0 lead, before battling back behind the long ball. Moore and Khoury each belted two-run homers in IWU's half of the third to put the Titans on top, 4-3. 

DePauw came right back with a run in the top of the fourth and tacked on three more in the fifth to climb ahead, 7-4.

Kuhn led the bottom of the fifth off with a single. She then bolted from first to home on a double to the right-center gap by Fontanetta. The RBI double cut the deficit to two, 7-5, into the sixth.

After Moore robbed DePauw of a homer to end the top of the seventh, Fontanetta singled with one away to get an IWU rally rolling. Following a two-out walk by Black, Peek doubled down the left field line to even the score at seven. 

The Tigers used an infield single to reclaim an 8-7 edge in the eighth. 

Turner pushed Peek to second with a sacrifice bunt and Wissmiller followed with a bunt single. Moore and Kuhn walked to even the score at eight, before Fontanetta's walk-off free pass gave IWU the 9-8 victory. 

IWU cranked out 11 hits in the win, with Fontanetta and Turner tallying two apiece. Moore, Khoury, Peek, and Fontanetta registered two RBIs each. 

Senior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) threw all eight innings, striking out six. The senior right-hander allowed eight runs, five earned, on eight hits.

IWU enjoys the week off before opening up College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Saturday, April 8, against Wheaton College. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.