Kodiak Creative

Softball Begins Roadtrip Versus Bluejays

Doubleheader set for a 1 p.m. start

4/12/2024 2:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team hits the road for the start of a four-game roadtrip Saturday, April 13, with a twin bill at Elmhurst University. First pitch of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin set is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Salt Creek Park.

The Titans, ranked 25th in the latest NFCA Top-25 poll, are 14-7 and 1-1 in conference play ahead of Saturday. IWU opened league competition with a split against Millikin, April 10. The Green and White blanked the Big Blue, 6-0, in game one but dropped the second leg, 8-3. Meanwhile, Elmhurst enters the weekend 9-12 on the season and 0-3 in the CCIW.

Illinois Wesleyan and Elmhurst have met 54 times ahead of this weekend's twin bill, with IWU leading the series, 42-12. Although the all-time series has been rather lopsided, the Titans needed plenty of late-game heroics to hold off the Bluejays for a sweep last season. A walk-off homer off the bat of Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) lifted IWU to a 4-2 win in eight innings before Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) threw three innings in relief to preserve a 4-3 victory in the finale.

Freshman Hailey Milgazo (Poway, Calif.-Poway), sophomore Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara), Kuhn, and sophomore Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) headline the IWU offense. Milgazo is hitting a team-leading .486 on the year with 34 hits and 24 runs scored. Beckman is second at .481, but holds the team's best slugging clip at .796. She has five doubles, three triples, and a pair of roundtrippers on the season. Kuhn and Wissmiller top the team in RBIs, while having 32 hits apiece. Kuhn leads the team with 11 walks and has 21 runs driven in this season, while Wissmiller has a team-high 26 RBIs and five homers.

In the circle, Illinois Wesleyan has used a three-player rotation. Certa leads the staff with a 2.09 earned run average with 48 strikeouts. Freshman Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville) is 2-0 in the circle over 33.1 innings of work, while sophomore Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic) has 20 Ks over 33.2 innings and has compiled a 4-3 record.

First pitch of Saturday's CCIW double dip is slated for 1 p.m. at Salt Creek Park. Links to the live stream and live stats can be found on the softball schedule page of iwusports.com.

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