Jack Novak Baseball Running Out - 4-7-2026 vs. Illinois College

Luigi Lam

Baseball Welcomes North Central for Weekend Series

Titans & Cardinals complete series in Naperville Sunday

4/16/2026 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A busy week continues for the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team with a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin series against North Central College, Saturday-Sunday, April 18-19. The series will kick off with a pair of games at Horenberger Field Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m., before the two travel to Naperville, Ill. for the 2 p.m. series finale Sunday. Illinois Wesleyan enters the three-game set 10-17 overall and an even 5-5 in league play.

The Green and White started off the week on the right foot, outlasting Benedictine University and Elmhurst University in a pair of three hour and 40-minute games. The Titan offense sits at 34 combined runs for the week with 30 hits. The last time the Illinois Wesleyan offense scored 34 combined runs in a two-game span was the 2022 season when the offense put together 36 against Central College (Iowa) and Anderson University.

The team's batting average leader (.379), sophomore AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo), put together a six RBI day against BenU with six hits on the week. The lefty is hitting .666 through the first two games, heading into the series with the Cardinals. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) is currently riding a 10-game hit streak with seven in the past two games. In conference play, the righty leads the CCIW with a .520 average and is second in OPS with 1.527. Leadoff man sophomore Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) is enjoying a monster week, being retired just twice, as he is 8-for-10 with three runs batted in.

Toeing the rubber for IWU, senior Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) leads the team in innings as the lone Titan to log over 30 innings. The righty is 2-1 in eight appearances with five starts. His 23 strikeouts sits second behind sophomore Brennan Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) with 28. Out of the bullpen, freshman Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill-Gibson City-Melvin Sibley) has inserted himself as a lockdown closer. Elliott shut the door on both BenU and EU this week, and recorded his first save a week ago against Illinois Tech. The hard-throwing righty has yet to allow a run in conference play through seven at-bats.

The Cardinals will play a midweek game against Benedictine Thursday, April 16, to try and boost their 15-13 mark. NCC is a game above .500 in the CCIW with a 7-6 mark. Longtime foes, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central, have battled it out 123 times since 1988. IWU holds 13 more wins over NCC with 68, thanks to an 18 game win streak from 2004-09. The latest chapter in the history came last year as North Central ended the Green and White's season, downing the Titans twice in the CCIW tournament to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the regular season, the Cardinals beat Illinois Wesleyan first in April of 2025, but the Titans returned the favor a week later with a 9-3 win in Naperville.

North Central will make the 110-mile bus ride on I-55 for the twin bill beginning at 12 p.m. Saturday, April 18. IWU makes the return trip the following day, for a single game at 2 p.m. Live stats and a live stream will be provided from both schools and can be found on the baseball schedule page at iwusports.com

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