BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team opened up an eight-game homestand with a sweep of Carthage College Saturday, April 20. The Titans (19-8, 6-2 CCIW) clobbered the Firebirds (19-13, 7-7 CCIW), 12-0, in five innings in game one before finishing off the sweep with a 6-1 triumph.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 12, Carthage 0 (5 inn.)
Following a 1-2-3 inning in the circle from sophomore Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North), Illinois Wesleyan pounced for a pair of runs in their first trip to the plate. Sophomore Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) drew a four-pitch walk before freshman Hailey Milgazo (Poway, Calif.-Poway) executed a bunt to perfection, earning a single in the process. Milgazo's bunt was perfectly sent down the third-baseline and ultimately resulted in an airmailed throw into center, which brought Beckman around to score. Junior Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) came through with some situational hitting, grounding out to the right side to drive in Milgazo from third. 

Leading 2-0 into the second, Illinois Wesleyan piled on five runs. An infield single by Kuhn along with a bases-clearing double by senior Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) and RBI single by freshman Elyssa Stenger (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) pushed the Green and White ahead, 7-0, into the third.

Carthage broke up Certa's no-hit bid in the fourth, with a leadoff single to right, but the Titan defense held strong to strand two.

IWU went right back to work in the bottom of the inning, cranking out six hits to plate five more runs to break the game open, 12-0. Turner's single got a one-out rally started as Stenger followed with a base knock of her own. Continuing to string together hits, sophomore Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) and senior Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) drove in runs to expand the lead to 9-0. A two-out bunt single by Milgazo scored pinch-running freshman Margo Geary (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North), before Kuhn poked one up the middle to give Illinois Wesleyan a 12-0 stronghold into the fifth.

Certa fanned the first batter she faced in the fifth before Kuhn pulled in a popup at short. Carthage extended the game with a single up the middle, but another popup closed out the run-rule win.

The Titans used 12 runs to plate their dozen runs, with four multi-hit efforts. Milgazo went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one driven in, while Kuhn, Turner, and Stenger tallied two hits apiece. Kuhn and Turner registered three RBIs each. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 6, Carthage 1
The Titans broke a scoreless tie with a four-run second inning, kickstarted by sophomore Casey Wissmiller's (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) leadoff single. Turner followed with a single to right before Stenger's sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third. Post continued the rally with an RBI knock through the left side, while Fontanetta's beautifully executed squeeze pushed the lead to 2-0.

Backman singled before an eventual double steal saw Fontanetta score safely. Milgazo capped the inning with an RBI single to drive IWU ahead, 4-0, after one and a half innings.

Back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fifth had Carthage in position to breakup the shutout, but sophomore Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic) did not waver. With two on and nobody out, she struckout consecutive batters looking. A single to the fringe of the outfield loaded the bases with two away, but Gatchell rang up her third batter of the inning to escape the jam unscathed.

Illinois Wesleyan added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh as Beckman smoked a triple to the fence in right to score Fontanetta. Milgazo followed with an RBI groundout to drive in Beckman, extending the lead to 6-0. 

The Firebirds pushed one across in the seventh, but IWU closed out a win, 6-1.

Gatchell finished with a career-high-tying seven strikeouts, matching her total from yesterday, as she grabbed her fifth win of the season. Freshman Mallory (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville) threw the final inning without yielding a hit. 

The Green and White racked up 13 hits in the game, with Beckman leading the way with a 3-for-4 showing. Milgazo, Wissmiller, and Fontanetta notched two hits each.

Illinois Wesleyan is right back at it tomorrow, April 21, with a doubleheader against North Park University. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Inspiration Field.