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CCIW Softball Tournament 2023 | Nina Mardjetko
Kodiak Creative
2
Augustana (Ill.) AUGIE 21-19
6
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 26-14
Augustana (Ill.) AUGIE
21-19
2
Final
6
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
26-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Augustana (Ill.) AUGIE 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 2 0 1 3 0 X 6 10 1

W: Grubczak, Natalie (10-3) L: Koster, Lauren (7-11) S: Mardjetko, Nina (2)

Game Recap: Softball |

Titans Take Down Augie on Day One of CCIW Tournament

Titans will play tomorrow, May 12, at 3:30 p.m.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team began College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament play Thursday evening, May 11, at Inspiration Field with a 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Augustana College. With the win, IWU advances to play tomorrow, May 12, at 3:30 p.m. The Titans will face the winner of the last game of opening day between No. 2 seed Millikin and No. 3 seed North Park. Meanwhile, Augie (21-19) will face the loser of the MU-NPU game at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.

A leadoff bloop single and a hit by pitch put runners on the corners with two away for the Vikings in the top of the first, but senior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) escaped the jam unscathed. The senior knocked down a comebacker to the circle and quickly recovered with a throw to first for the third out. 

In the second, Augie made the most of a leadoff knock to grab a quick 1-0 lead in the second on a RBI single to the left-center gap. 

The Green and White plated two in the second, as freshman Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) picked up right where she left off at the end of the regular season. With junior Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) and sophomore Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) on base, Wissmiller singled through the left side to give IWU a 2-1 edge.

Illinois Wesleyan appeared poised to tack on a few more in the third, but a pair of ground balls ended the threat with bases loaded. 

Following singles from Wissmiller and junior Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove), sophomore Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) came through with a clutch RBI single to expand the IWU lead, 3-1, into the fifth.

The Titans went for three more runs in the fifth, using small ball to build on their lead. Khoury walked to get things started and was lifted for junior speedster Isabelle Piwowarczyk (Hometown, Ill.-Oak Lawn). Turner reached via an error on a sac bunt to put two aboard for freshman Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), who delivered a sac fly to bring home a run. Following junior Priscilla Peek's (Deer Creek, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) single, Wissmiller punished the Vikings once again with an RBI single. Fontanetta capped the three-run frame with a perfectly-executed squeeze to extend Illinois Wesleyan's lead to five, 6-1.

After Augustana pushed a run across in the sixth, the seventh saw senior Nina Mardjketko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) slam the door with a 1-2-3 inning to give IWU the 6-2 victory.

WIssmiller headlined an IWU offense that cranked out 10 hits with a 3-for-3 day that included three RBIs. Turner finished 1-for-1 with a pair of runs scored.

In the circle, the senior duo of Grubczak and Mardjetko got the job done for the Green and White. Grubczak struck out one over four innings as the starter, with Mardjetko fanning three in three innings of relief work. 

 
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