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Titans celebrate Maddie Pool's homerun
© AshtinElder
1
North Central NCC 20-22
6
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 32-7
North Central NCC
20-22
1
Final
6
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
32-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
North Central NCC 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 2 0 1 0 1 2 X 6 11 0

W: Certa, Gianna (15-2) L: Schilf, Sam (9-11) S: Holland, Mallory (5)

Game Recap: Softball |

Timely Hits Send Softball Past North Central

IWU to play at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, May 9

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team took advantage of its opportunities with runners in scoring position to take down fifth-seeded North Central College, 6-1, on the first day of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament at Inspiration Field. IWU (32-7) advances to tomorrow's 3:30 p.m. game, while NCC (20-22) falls into the loser's bracket and will play at 1 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan wasted no time jumping on the board, manufacturing two runs on four hits in the bottom of the first. Freshman Grace Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) got things rolling with a bunt single. After reaching on a fielder's choice and swiping second base, junior Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) scored on senior Jen Kuhn's (Normal, Ill.-University) RBI single. Freshman Bella Pinter (LaMoille, Ill.-Saint Bede Academy) and junior Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) followed with singles, with Pinter's knock plating Kuhn for a 2-0 Titan lead.

Junior Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) tossed a 1-2-3 top of the third after giving up singles in the first two innings. Beckman's infield single paid off by way of an RBI groundout from senior Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) as Illinois Wesleyan's lead grew to 3-0 into the fourth.

NCC cracked the scoreboard in the fifth, stringing together singles around a walk, to plate a run and bring about an IWU pitching change. Certa made way for sophomore Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville). Inheriting a runner on third, Holland induced a groundout before stranding two on an inning-ending strikeout. 

Beckman sparked the Titans once again, using her speed to stretch a base hit into a double. With a runner in scoring position, Kuhn did what she has done all year - coming through with her second RBI single of the game to propel the Green and White ahead, 4-1, after five innings.

Wissmiller cranked a one-out ground-rule double down the right field line and scored on junior Claire Post's (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) timely sacrifice fly in the sixth. Stepping to the plate as a pinch hitter, freshman Maddie Pool (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton Warrenville South) belted the second roundtripper of her career and her first at Inspiration Field. Pool's solo homer stretched the Green and White's edge to five, 6-1, with the Cardinals coming to the plate for their last at bats. 

Holland finished off the game in the seventh, striking out two before sophomore Annika Brown (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) made a great play for the final out. Holland, who pitched the final 2.2 innings, earned a save for her performance, her fifth of the season. She struckout four and allowed two hits. 

Certa picked up the win after throwing the first 4.1 innings, fanning three, to move to 15-2 on the season. 

Illinois Wesleyan's offense tallied 11 hits with a trio of Titans notching two apiece. Grace Wilkens, Kuhn, and Wissmiller each went 2-for-3. Kuhn drove in two, while Khoury, Pinter, Post, and Pool notched one RBI apiece.

The Green and White advances in the winner's bracket of the CCIW Tournament and will play at 3:30 p.m. North Central will play in the 1 p.m. elimination game. Opponents will be dependent on tonight's final first day game between second-seeded Augustana and third-seeded Millikin.
 
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