BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – After splitting Saturday's doubleheader, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team clinched the series win over College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Augustana College with an 11-8 victory Sunday, April 13. The Titans improve to 15-12 overall and 7-4 in the CCIW, while the Vikings fall to 14-12 and 4-5 in league play.

Junior Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) got the start on the mound for the Green and White, striking out three over 3.1 innings. The bullpen trio of juniors Luke Costello (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) and Jake Pullam (Palatine, Ill.-Palatine), along with freshman Cole Benson (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest), held things down in relief. Benson earned the win, while Pullam picked up the save.

Offensively, IWU tallied 13 hits and posted a team OPS of .982. Junior Jack Flagg (River Forest, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) went 2-for-4 and recorded his third home run of the season. Seniors Cade Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) and Justin Gadomski (Schaumburg, Ill.-Schaumburg) each turned in strong performances at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs apiece.

Augustana struck first with three runs in the top of the first inning, but the Titans responded quickly. Gadomski got things going with a double down the left field line before Tomhave brought him in with a single to center. Sophomore John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) followed with a double to run in Tomhave and cut the deficit to 3-2.

After Augustana added another in the second to make it 4-2, Flagg crushed a 371-foot homer to right center to bring IWU back within one. The Titans tied it in the third thanks to another Gadomski double and a Tomhave RBI single. A sacrifice fly later in the inning gave IWU its first lead of the game, 5-4.

The Vikings reclaimed the lead with two runs in the fourth and extended it to 8-5 in the fifth, but IWU wasn't finished yet.

In the bottom half of the fifth, the Titans erupted for six runs to swing the game back in their favor. Senior Jimmy Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-St. Laurence) drew a walk, followed by a single from freshman Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley). With the bases loaded after a walk for senior Tristan Figus (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove), Flagg delivered a clutch single to bring home two.

Senior Tyler Woltman (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton North) tied the game at 8-8 with a single up the middle, and freshman Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) drew a walk to reload the bases. Gadomski came through with an RBI single past third to give IWU a 9-8 lead. Tomhave capped the inning with a two-run single to left center, pushing the advantage to 11-8.

The Titans held off Augustana the rest of the way to secure the win and series victory.

IWU will return to action on Wednesday, April 26, when they travel to face North Central College in Naperville, Ill. First pitch at Zimmerman Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.