ELMHURST, Ill. - After eking out an extra-inning win, the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team used a 14-6 run-rule victory in game two to complete a sweep of Elmhurst University Saturday afternoon, April 13. With the wins, IWU boosted its record to 16-7 on the year and 3-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Bluejays slipped to 9-14 overall, 0-5 in the CCIW.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 4, Elmhurst 1 (9 inn.)
Sophomore Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) struckout the side to keep the game scoreless through four innings as IWU came to the plate in the fifth. Freshman Elyssa Stenger (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) doubled to lead off the frame and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, but the Green and White were unable to bring her home.

Illinois Wesleyan's battery teamed up for a double play in the fifth as Certa notched the strikeout and Stenger picked off the runner to erase an Elmhurst base hit.

Stenger once again got the Titans going, reaching with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) was hit by a pitch and freshman Hailey Milgazo (Poway, Calif.-Poway) beat out an infield single to load the bases with one away. Unfortunately, a ground ball saw the Titans thrown at the plate before a strikeout thwarted the scoring opportunity.

Certa worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the frame to send the game to extras deadlocked at zero.

Senior Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) ripped a single off the middle to get the eighth started before scoring on Stenger's RBI single. 

Elmhurst plated a run of its own in the eighth, doing so on a sacrifice fly, to tie the score at one into the ninth. A two-out rally began with sophomore Casey Wissmiller's (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) triple. Junior Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) came through with an RBI double to reclaim the lead, 2-1, before a pair of throwing errors by the Bluejays allowed two more runs to score.

Certa preserved the 4-1 lead with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth that did not see a ball leave the infield. Her nine-inning complete game featured six strikeouts and five hits allowed.

IWU churned out a dozen hits in the win, with the freshman duo of Milgazo and Stenger leading the way. Milgazo finished 3-for-5, while Stenger went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Turner and junior Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) added two hits apiece.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 14, Elmhurst 6 (5 inn.)
The Green and White offense erupted for five runs on five hits to crack the scoreboard as the home team in the second inning of game two. Stenger remained red-hot with a double to left. Khoury broke through with a two-run shot to straight-away center to give IWU a 2-0 edge. After senior Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) walked, Beckman notched an RBI double. Milgazo drove in Beckman on a run-scoring single and senior Maya Black (Springfield, Ill.-Glenwood) plated a run on a knock up the middle to push Illinois Wesleyan in front, 5-0, into the third.

Elmhurst responded with four runs on five hits, but freshman Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville) entered in relief and promptly induced a groundout. 

IWU got a trio of runs back in the bottom half of the inning as Khoury cranked her second homer of the game, a solo shot to right center, and Kuhn came through with a two-run single.

Leading 8-6 after another two-run frame by the Bluejays, senior Hope Yeoman (West Lafayette, Ind.-Henry Harrison), Fontanetta, and Beckman drove in runs to break open a 14-6 lead.

Holland closed out the run-rule win with a 1-2-3 fifth. Earning the win, Holland finished with a pair of strikeouts over 2.1 innings. 

IWU tallied nine hits in game two, with Khoury leading the way with a 2-for-2 effort that included three RBIs and three runs. Seven other Titans recorded hits in the win.

Illinois Wesleyan remains on the road for a CCIW double dip at North Central College this Thursday, April 18. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.