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AJ Weller walk-off hit
Audrey Peterson
9
Winner Millikin MU 16-5
8
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 4-13
Winner
Millikin MU
16-5
9
Final
8
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
4-13
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Millikin MU 2 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 9 10 7
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 0 4 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 11 2

W: Caleb Akins (4-1) L: Martinez, Caleb (0-2) S: Gavin Houchins (5)

3
Millikin MU 16-5
4
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 5-13
Millikin MU
16-5
3
Final
4
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
5-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Millikin MU 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 4 8 0

W: Addis , Cade (1-0) L: Brody Stonecipher (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Walks-Off Millikin for Series Win

Titans split doubleheader

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team secured a series win against No. 22 Millikin University with a 4-3 walk-off win Saturday, March 28, at Horenberger Field. The Titans dropped game one, 9-8, in 12 innings. IWU runs its record to 5-13 and 2-1 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play, while MU's record stands at 16-6 and 2-3 in league play

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 9, Millikin 8

A sluggish start saw an early pitching change as sophomore Cole Benson (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) lasted just 1.2 innings and gave up six runs, with five of them earned. He punched out four batters, striking out the side in the first, but let up the same number of walks. Freshman Myles Hammond (Lakewood, Ill.-Shelbyville) was first out of the bullpen for his first appearance since March 14 against Spalding. Hammond impressed, holding the Big Blue in place. His 3.1 innings are a career-best along with four strikeouts and one hit. 

After Hammond, the Titans used five pitchers to finish the rest of the game. Sophomores Luc Lawler (Naperville, Ill.-Benet Academy) and Brennan Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) along with junior Caleb Martinez (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling) each went two innings, giving up a total of three runs out of the bullpen. Senior Luke Costello (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) entered for an inning and escaped a jam that was set up by senior Jake Pullam (Pallatine, Ill.-Pallatine).

The Green and White tallied 10 hits in the extra-inning affair with sophomore Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) leading the way with three of them. Junior Luca Morelli (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) brought in three runs to power the Titan offense. Junior John Philip Ferraro (Orland Park, Ill.-Orland Park River Forest) snagged his second multi-hit game of the week with two more today. He brought in one run and scored one.

The Titan bats struggled to string much together early against Millikin's ace Caleb Akins, keeping IWU hitters off the board for the first three innings. 

After spotting the Big Blue a six-run lead, Illinois Wesleyan broke through in the fourth, climbing back to cut the deficit to two, 6-4. With one out in the inning, Ford worked a seven pitch free pass to bring up Ferraro who singled through the left side. Senior Jack Flagg (River Forest, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) came to the plate and jumped on a 2-0 pitch to load the bases. Morelli brought home the Titans' first run on a chopper to the third baseman, who bobbled it allowing a run to score, and kept the bases packed. The line continued to junior Patrick Carmody (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) teeing off on the first pitch of the at bat, he drove in two more runs. Senior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) kept the scoring going as he brought home Morelli on a put out by the second baseman.

The Green and White drew even closer in its comeback quest an inning later. The top of the order came to the plate but two quick strikeouts put two outs on the board for Ford. The righty reached on a single which brought up Ferraro. Ferraro scored Ford on a high fly to shallow center which ricocheted off a diving centerfielder to allow Ford to score from first.

After IWU cut the lead to one, MU responded with a run of its own to build the lead back to two in the sixth. The Titans did not take long to regain momentum and their first lead of the game. A big seventh inning was kick-started by sophomore Michael Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) who singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw. After a walk to sophomore Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and a strikeout, Ford singled into right to plate Gurgone to make it 7-6. Another walk and strikeout brought up Morelli with a chance to take the lead. The righty dribbled a ball down the third base line which led to a wild throw to first and two runs scoring for the home team.

IWU flooded the bases loaded in the eighth thanks to a pair of mistakes from the Big Blue, but MU escaped the jam on a flyout to right. 

A sacrifice bunt moved the MU runners into scoring position and a walk filled the empty first base with a runner. Millikin brought home the tying run a batter later on a sacrifice fly into center field, but Tomhave cracked down to limit the damage and induced a groundout to cap off the inning. 

Extra innings started with Tomhave striking out the first batter and walking the next. A popup back to mound was taken care of for out number one, but the next batter reached on a catcher's interference, setting up the potential winning run at second. With two outs. MU's Pete Britton smoked a sinking line drive into right, but a full extended Ford made the snag before the ball could touch the ground.

Both teams went scoreless in the 11th inning to turn the page to the 12th. A leadoff double pitted the Titans behind the eight ball early in the frame. A sacrifice bunt moved him over to third, just 90 feet away. Working his way into a hitters count, Millikin's Aiden Simmons sent a deep fly ball off the base of the left-center wall to take a 9-8 lead. 

The Titan offense rallied in the bottom half to get Wolfe to second after reaching on a bunt. Gurgone moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, however back-to-back line outs concluded the game one defeat. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 4, Millikin 3

With the game stalled at three, Weller stepped up to the plate to deliver the game-winning hit, rifling a ball into left-center to bring in junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) taking the rubber match, 4-3. Novak reached first on a gritty two-strike single into center. A sac bunt by Wolfe moved him over to second and a walk to senior Derek Ittner  (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Bloomingdale) placed him at first. Hudik followed with a hard line drive to left which brought up Novak with two outs to seal the deal. 

It was a big day for Novak scoring three out of the four Titan runs and his first career three-hit day falling a home run shy of the cycle. Weller capped off his clutch day with a pair of hits and the game-winning RBI. 

Senior Will Davidsmeier (Virginia, Ill.-Beardstown) toed the rubber first for the Green and White, and like the game one starter, did not last long. It was a two-inning performance with three earned runs and two strikeouts. The bullpen was sensational in senior Marshall Ingold (Rochester, Ill.-Rochester), Gurgone, and sophomore Cade Addis (Fairbury, Ill.-Praire Central) combining for just two hits and without allowing a run. Ingold went three innings giving up the two hits, while Gurgone and Addis threw 1.2 and 2.1 hitless innings to will the Titans to a victory, respectively. Addis earned his first career win.

Game two started similarly to the first with Millikin hopping on IWU early. Davidsmeier gifted a hit by pitch to the first batter of the game. The next batter made him pay with a deep drive over the monster in right to make it 2-0. The Big Blue kept busy on the base paths the next inning, with a walk and a double to put runners in scoring position. The next batter brought in the third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-0.

Novak got the Titans going in the third with his first extra-base hit of the day. He sent a shot out to right-center, finding the warning track and speeding around the bases to get to third. Wolfe brought him in with a ground out to the second baseman to make it 3-1. 

More magic was in Novak's bat a couple innings later, sending a deep fly to the same spot as earlier, pulling in at second for a double. Back-to-back wild pitches brought Novak home to draw within one. Wolfe proceeded to walk to bring up Ittner, who struck a ball into the heavily used right-center gap to score Wolfe from first.

Zeros flooded the scoreboard from the point on as both teams struggled to score, but not for the lack of opportunity Millikin would go on to leave seven runners on base while IWU stranded six. The Titans outhit the Big Blue 8-5. 

After a pair of weekends at home, the Green and White will spend time up north for a midweek game against Elmhurst University Wednesday, April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. 
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