BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In the Titans' home opener, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team squared up against Wabash College. IWU took on the Little Giants in a double header Saturday, March 23 at 12 and 3 p.m. The Green and White came out 1-1 on the day, moving to 10-5 on the season, while Wabash sits at 7-7. The two teams will conclude the series tomorrow, Sunday, March 24, at Wabash.
Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 6, Wabash 5
The Titans got an early lead in game one against the Little Giants as senior Louis Perona (Chicago, Ill.-Lane Tech) ran in on a hit from sophomore
Jack Flagg (River Forest, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest).
Starting off strong in the bottom of the third, Perona got his first two-bagger of the game to left field. With junior Justin Gadomski (Schaumburg, Ill.-Schaumburg) up to bat, he doubled down the left line to give Perona his second run of the day. With a walk from Flagg and two runners on base, freshman John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) singled up the middle to bring Gadomski home. The Titans rounded out the inning with sophomore Tommy Willard (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) singling down the left line to run Flagg in, bringing the score 4-0 in favor of the Titans.
With no let up from IWU in the bottom of the fourth, Gadomski brought junior Jimmy Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-St. Laurence) home, as he ripped a shot down the left field line, bringing the score to 5-0.
Wabash earned its first two runs in the top of the sixth to break up the shutout.
Freshman Luca Morelli (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) got a base hit to reach base, bringing junior William Duff (Western Springs, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) out to pinch run. Duff scored to up the lead to four for the Titans, as the score moved to 6-2.
The Little Giants slowly inched their way back into the game in the top of the seventh as they finished the inning with four to cut the lead to two. Wabash scored one more run to end the game, 6-5, in the top of the ninth.
On the bump, sophomore Will Davidsmeier (Virginia, Ill.-Beardstown) added a win to his record which sits at 2-0. Davidsmeier pitched for five innings and recorded seven strikeouts, only allowing two runs and scattering three hits.
Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 2, Wabash 8
In the second game, Wabash took an early lead to start off the game scoring the first run. Neither team scored again until the fourth inning where WC took six more to grow its lead 7-0.
With a scoreless fifth inning, Wabash started the sixth inning with one more run to make the score 8-0. The Titans, still scoreless, were able to put some numbers on the board when Flagg hit a sacrifice fly to bring Gadomski home. A couple plays later, with senior Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbrook South) on second, junior Kennan Burgos (Park Ridge, Ill.-Niles Notre Dame) singled to left field, allowing Cyrus to run in to bring the score 8-2.
The deficit was too much to overcome, as the Titans ultimately fell, 8-2.
Junior Dalen Banks (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) started on the bump in game two. Banks pitched 3.1 innings, recording four strikeouts, but was tagged with 5 hits with six runs, only one of which was earned. Gurgone went three-for-three at bat and tallied one walk.
The Titans are on the road tomorrow, March 24, they will finish the three-game series with the Little Giants in Crawfordsville, Ind. the game starts at 1 p.m. ET. You can find the live stream and the live stats at iwusports.com under the baseball schedule.
