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Gianna Certa pitching
Kodiak Creative
6
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 36-7
1
Neb. Wesleyan NWU 32-12
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
36-7
6
Final
1
Neb. Wesleyan NWU
32-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 6 11 0
Neb. Wesleyan NWU 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 1

W: Certa, Gianna (18-2) L: Elise Warneke (25-8)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Downs NWU to Advance to Regional Championship Saturday

Game time set for 11 a.m. tomorrow, May 17

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The 20th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University softball team rode an early lead to a 6-1 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University Friday, May 16, to advance to the Bloomington regional title game in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. IWU (36-7) scored three early runs to roll into Saturday's championship game, while NWU will play in an elimination game later tonight.

Freshman Grace Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) put down a perfect bunt-single down the third base line to leadoff the game, kicking off a string of hits for the Green and White. Wilkens scooted into second on a groundout, and senior Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) drove her home with an RBI single. Junior Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) singled to put runners on the corners for freshman Bella Pinter (LeMoille, Ill.-Saint Bede Academy). Pinter hammered a single through the right side to score one, and freshman Julia Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) tacked on another run with a slicing RBI knock down the left field line. 

Illinois Wesleyan upped its lead to four in the top of the fourth as Pinter cranked a solo homer out to left-center. The homer, Pinter's seventh of the season, extended the Titan lead to 4-0.

The freshman DP notched her third hit of the day in the fifth, delivering a double to the right-center gap, to drive IWU ahead, 5-0. 

Junior Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) saw her no-hit bid broken up in the bottom of the fifth as Nebraska Wesleyan notched back-to-back base knocks, the second of which drove in a run. 

The Titans got it right back though, as junior Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) kicked off the sixth inning with a single. Grace Wilkens reached on an error and senior Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) walked to load the bases for Khoury. The Prairie Wolves wanted no part of the IWU's career homerun record holder, walking her on four straight pitches to bring in a run. The bases-loaded walk gave the Green and White a 6-1 advantage.

The Prairie Wolves made things interesting in the bottom half of the frame, loading the bases, but Certa sent the NWU batter down swinging to escape the jam and strand three. She carried over that momentum to the seventh, throwing a 1-2-3 inning to close out the complete game effort.

Certa allowed just three hits in the game, striking out two, over seven innings of work. With the win, the junior jumped to 18-2 on the season.

Illinois Wesleyan provided Certa with plenty of run support with six runs on 11 hits. Pinter led the effort with a 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Wissmiller and Grace Wilkens each went 2-for-4 in the game.

The Titans will advance to tomorrow's regional title game. IWU will learn its opponent later tonight, with game time slated for an 11 a.m. start Saturday, May 17.


 
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