Woltman catching the ball behind the plate

Ashtin Elder

Baseball Readies for Two-Game Midweek Clash

Titans start at home against Blackburn and then travel to Elmhurst

4/29/2024 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team gets back to action with a pair of midweek games Tuesday-Wednesday, April 30-May 1. IWU gets the week started with a non-conference game against Blackburn College Tuesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. at Jack Horenberger Field before traveling to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Elmhurst University Wednesday, May 1. First pitch of the bout between the Bluejays and Titans is set for 4 p.m.

The Titans go into the game against Blackburn 22-11 overall, tying their win total from a season ago. Meanwhile, the Beavers are 4-31 overall with familiar matchups for both teams this season against Fontbonne and Monmouth.

IWU and BC have met 21 times dating back to 2000, with the Titans leading the series, 15-5-1. The last meeting between the two teams was May 4, 2023 where the Green and White took the lead early on the way to an 11-4 win.

Elmhurst does not play anyone until they play IWU and are going into Wednesday's game with a record of 9-26 and 3-13 in the CCIW, while the Titans sit at 11-5 currently in the league. IWU is third in the conference, whereas EU sits ninth in the CCIW.

The Titans and the Bluejays have quite a lengthy history compared to Blackburn as they have met 103 times dating back to 1998. IWU leads the overall series against EU, 77-26. The Green and White's longest win streak came from 2004 to 2010 with 21 consecutive wins against the Bluejays.

IWU took on Elmhurst earlier in the season, with the Bluejays taking home a 2-1 win against the Titans, April 5, 2024. The Green and White is looking to even the season series ahead of a three-game series later this week against North Park University.

A key player this week who helped the Titans solidify their spot in the CCIW tournament was sophomore Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest). Shamhart helped propel the Titans to a 4-0 win against Carthage last week, pitching six innings and striking out 12, while keeping his opponent's batting average to .250.

Freshman John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) started in all three games this past week with a batting average of .556. Overall, the freshman sits at .403 taking third in conference standings. Ferraro totaled 19 putouts and two assists on the week with one error putting his fielding percentage at .955.

The live stats and the live stream for both games can be found on IWUsports.com under the baseball schedule.

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