IWU vs. DePauw | IWU Softball Tournament | BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Late-game heroics lifted the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team to a 9-6 win over DePauw University Sunday, April 7, at Inspiration Field. Senior Bailey Turner (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) registered her third home run of the season to walk it off against the Tigers as IWU improved to 13-6 on the season. DePauw dipped to 10-11-1 with the loss.

Ashtin Elder

Softball Makes Season Debut in NFCA Top-25 Ahead of CCIW Opener

Titans host Millikin, April 10

4/9/2024 3:00:00 PM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team jumped into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top-25 Coaches Poll after a 2-1 record at its home tournament over the weekend. IWU is ranked tied for 25th in the rankings released by the NFCA Tuesday morning, April 9.

The Titans picked up a pair of wins over DePauw University, April 6-7, to improve their record to 13-6 on the season ahead of the start of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. IWU plays host to Millikin University Wednesday, April 10, at Inspiration Field. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. The Big Blue travel to Bloomington with a 13-9 record, including a 1-1 mark in CCIW play. MU most recently split a doubleheader against Augustana, April 6, in Rock Island. After dropping game one, 6-0, MU came back to salvage a split with a 4-0 victory in the nightcap.

Illinois Wesleyan's offense is off to a torrid start, hitting .361 as a team. Sophomore Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) leads the way with a .500 batting average, .854 slugging, and .561 on-base percentage. Junior Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) boasts a .492 batting average with 17 RBIs and eight walks. Freshman Hailey Milgazo (Poway, Calif.-Poway) and sophomore Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) hold averages of .484 and .456, respectively. Wismmiller is the team leader in RBIs with 25 and homers (5).

The trio of sophomores Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) and Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic) along with freshman Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville) have anchored the pitching staff. Certa holds a 6-2 record with a team-best 2.35 earned run average. She also paces the staff with 46 strikeouts and seven complete games. Holland has earned two saves on the year and is 2-0 in the circle, while Gatchell is 4-2 with 18 Ks.

IWU and MU have a wealth of history, having met on the diamond 71 times ahead of Wednesday's double dip. Illinois Wesleyan holds a 48-23 edge in the series all-time, but the two teams have split the last 14 meetings. Last season, the Titans came away from Decatur with a sweep of the Big Blue. IWU used an eight-run sixth to topple Millikin, 15-9, in game one before a Priscilla Peek homer proved to be the difference in a 4-3 win. Millikin avenged the losses though, defeating IWU twice in the conference tournament to win the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

First pitch of Wednesday's doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. Live stats and a live stream of the games will be available through links on the softball schedule page of iwusports.com.

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