BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball is set to resume College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action Friday-Saturday, April 7-8. The Green and White will make the trip up north to tangle with Carthage College for a doubleheader, Friday, April 7 in Kenosha, Wis. IWU will then see a quick turnaround by hosting Millikin University in a single, nine-inning contest, Saturday, April 8. Both days are set to begin at 12 p.m. at Augie Schmidt Field and Horenberger Field, respectively. Entering the second weekend of conference action, Carthage owns a record of 7-11 (2-2 CCIW), Millikin sits at 17-7 (3-1 CCIW), while IWU owns a record of 5-14 (1-2 CCIW). 

Friday's game one against Carthage will mark the 109th all-time meeting, in a series dating back to the 1989 season. IWU owns the slim, 56-52, advantage in the all-time series. The Green and White came out victorious in the first matchup, 4-3, May 6, 1989. The Titans' largest win streak against the Firebirds sits at eight games, which was earned April 26, 2013-April 26, 2015. Illinois Wesleyan swept last year's two-game series by final scores of 23-1 and 10-6. 

Much like IWU and CC, IWU and MU have a deep history on the diamond. Saturday's duel will mark the two foe's 116th all-time meeting, dating back to 1988. Illinois Wesleyan owns the commanding, 78-37, all-time advantage in large part due to a 28-game winning streak from April 12, 2006-April 11, 2015. However, recent history has been on the side of the Big Blue, who is currently riding a seven-game winning streak against Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans' last victory against MU came on May 11, 2019 in the CCIW Tournament. 

Illinois Wesleyan last took to the field Sunday, April 2 for a home doubleheader against North Park University. The Vikings took both ends of the double dip with scores of 6-3 and 11-9, respectively.

Carthage is coming off of a CCIW contest against Wheaton College, yesterday, April 5. The Firebirds defeated the Pios with a final score of 16-6. Carthage welcomed a six run fourth inning to coast to the victory. 

On the flip side, the Big Blue, who is scheduled to take on No. 23 North Central College tomorrow, April 7, most recently took on Elmhurst University, April 4. Millikin took down the Bluejays by a final score of 7-2. Both teams logged seven hits apiece. 

With 19 games in the rear view mirror, junior Louis Perona (Chicago, Ill.-Lane Tech) leads the offense in a majority of categories, including batting average (.457), OPS (1.181), runs (20), hits (32), RBI (21), total bases (46), slugging percentage (.657), walks (10), and stolen bases (20).

Senior Jalen Ping (Chatham, Ill.-Glenwood) tops the Titans in at-bats (75) and doubles (9). Ping currently holds a .400 batting average with 30 hits. 

In the CCIW rankings, the Titans hold the second-highest batting average clip (.319), just behind Wheaton (.325). IWU checks in second in hits (213), total bases (293), and slugging percentage (.439).

Sophomore hurler Dalen Banks (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) has assembled an outstanding year with his 2.25 ERA and unblemished, 4-0 record. Among qualified pitchers, Banks leads the staff in every statistical category that is highlighted by his 32 strikeouts and .239 opponents batting average.

Live stats and a live video will be available for the three games. Live stats for the Carthage series can be found here, while the live video will be available here. Live stats for the Millikin game can be accessed here, while the live video can be viewed here.