KENOSHA, Wis. – In a thrilling start to a pivotal series, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team secured a hard-fought, 9-4, win over Carthage College on Friday, May 2, taking the first of three games in a battle for College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship. With the victory, the Titans improve to 24-13 overall and 14-4 in the conference, while the Firebirds drop to 28-10 and 14-4 in the league. The outcome of Saturday's doubleheader will determine the regular season champion and who will host the upcoming CCIW Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan needs to win one in order to clinch the title.
IWU saw a start from freshman Cole Benson (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) on the mound, who snagged the win after pitching six innings and striking out four. In relief, senior Brady Hartman (Milan, Ill.-Sherrard) threw the final three innings and adding one strikeout.
Offensively, junior Jack Flagg (River Forest, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) finished 2-for-3 in the game, producing three RBIs and one run. Senior Jimmy Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-St. Laurence) went 2-for-5, with one RBI and one run in. Defensively, the Green and White went errorless with the bats producing nine hits.
The Titans came out swinging, striking early in the top of the first inning. Senior Justin Gadomski (Schaumburg, Ill.-Schaumburg) scored the game's opening run on a rocket to right field off the bat of Gurgone.
IWU added to its lead in the second when junior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) reached base after being hit by a pitch. He later came home on a sacrifice fly from freshman Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), giving the Titans a 2-0 advantage.
The third inning proved to be the turning point, as the Titans exploded for four more runs. Senior Cade Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) reached on an error by the Carthage first baseman and later scored on a single to left by sophomore John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park-River Forest). Senior Tristan Figus (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) followed with a sac fly to right, allowing Gurgone to cross the plate. The big blow came from Flagg, who launched a two-run homer to center, extending IWU's lead to 6-0.
Carthage answered with two runs in the bottom of the third and added another in the fifth to trim the deficit to 6-3, but IWU remained composed.
In the sixth, Tomhave came through again, this time with a triple to center that drove in senior Tyler Woltman (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton North), who had singled earlier in the inning.
The Titans padded their lead in the seventh when Ferraro scored on a sac fly by Flagg, and in the eighth, Hudik came home on another sac fly from Tomhave. The Firebirds scoring one more in the bottom of the ninth, ending the game 9-4, Titans.
IWU and CC are back in action tomorrow, May 3, at Jack Horenberger Field for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. in Bloomingon, Ill., but may change as a result of weather. Updates will be made to iwusports.com. IWU claims hosting rights for next week's league tournament with a win.
