ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The bats were red hot as the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team swept Washington University in St. Louis Saturday, March 2. IWU grabbed a 9-5 win in game one, followed by a 7-0 shutout in the night cap to complete the sweep. The Titans boosted their record to 4-1 with the wins, while the Bears dropped to 5-3.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 9, WashU 5
Junior Dalen Banks (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) turned in an outstanding performance on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings. He allowed just five hits and struck out four as the pitcher of record and climbed to 2-0 on the season.

The Titans churned out 13 hits in the first game, with four players recording multiple hits. Junior Tristan Figus (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while senior Evan Hutson (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) finished 3-for-5 on the day with a pair of runs driven in. Senior Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) and junior Tyler Woltman (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton North) each posted two hits, while Woltman scored a team-best two runs. 

A leadoff home run off the bat of junior Justin Gadomski (Schaumburg, Ill.-Schaumburg) in the first inning gave IWU an early edge, before sophomore Tommy Willard (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) doubled the Titan lead on an RBI groundout. Gadomski was equally clutch defensively, making a diving stop and a leaping catch at shortstop to contain the Bears' offense.

Leading 2-0 in the fifth, Illinois Wesleyan tacked on two more runs via a WashU error and an RBI groundout to push the lead to 4-0 heading into the sixth.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth from Banks that featured two strikeouts, junior Jimmy Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-St. Laurence) singled with one out in the seventh. Woltman followed with a double down the left field line to put two in scoring position for Figus, who roped a single to center to bring home Gurgone.

In the ninth, IWU tacked on three runs on four hits to open up a hefty advantage. Cyrus led the frame off with a single and was quickly bunted over to second. Woltman then singled to put runners on the corners, before Figus' infield single brought in another run. Hutson capped off the inning with a two-run single to extend Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 9-0 with WashU coming to the plate for a final time.

WashU made things interesting in the ninth, using five hits and an error to put the game-tying run in the on deck circle. Sophomore Luke Costello (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South), who entered after back-to-back triples cut IWU's lead to 9-5, left two Bears on the bases as he ended the game with a groundout to preserve the victory. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 7, WashU 0

The Titans continued its hot streak from game one as they dominated the second game against WashU. IWU scored seven runs to the Bears zero. 

The Titans and the Bears stood scoreless all the way into the top of the third inning before Cyrus slammed one past the fences in left field with Gadomski and Perona on base, breaking the scoring drought and giving IWU a 3-0 advantage. Not letting up in the third, Woltman doubled to left center, bringing Gurgone home to raise the score to 4-0.

Continuing with the afternoon trends, IWU ran in Woltman, Gadomski, and Willard for three more to finish off the game 7-0. 

Sophomore Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) started on the mound for game two, pitching six innings and limiting the Bears to only three hits.

The Green and White had 13 hits compared to WashU's four. Perona saw five at bats with three hits, scoring one run. Cyrus proved dominant at the plate with three RBIs in four at-bats. 

Illinois Wesleyan and WashU wrap up the weekend three-game set tomorrow, March 3, with a 12 p.m. first pitch. You can find the live stream for the Sunday game here, and the live stats here.