Illinois Wesleyan vs North Park | Softball Senior Day at Carol Willis Park in Bloomington, Illinois, United States of America on Sat, Apr 11th, 2026.

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Samuel Okewole

Last CCIW Regular Season Roadtrip Sends Softball to Elmhurst

First pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

4/17/2026 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team makes its final trek of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season slate Saturday, April 18, as the Titans travel to the Plunkett Athletic Complex for games against Elmhurst University. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan carries a 19-11 overall record into the weekend, highlighted by a conference-leading 9-1 CCIW standing. IWU most recently swept Millikin by scores of 5-0 and 10-1, April 16. Elmhurst finds itself in a battle for a spot in the league tournament with just four CCIW games under its belt. The Bluejays are 1-3 against conference competition and 7-14 overall. EU has seen back-to-back doubleheaders postponed and welcomes the Titans following a pair of losses to Millikin, April 11.

The Green and White has seen its team batting average soar during conference play. Sophomore Kelsey Bartels (Downs, Ill.-Tri-Valley) tops the team with a .400 batting average with 28 hits alongside 10 stolen bases. Senior Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) follows with a .384 average and shares the team lead with senior Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) and freshman Isabella Boskey (Huntley, Ill.-Huntley) with 19 runs driven in apiece. Sophomore Grace Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett), senior Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara), and Wissmiller are also hitting north of .300. Grace Wilkens carries a .355 average aided by a team-high 33 hits and Beckman checks in at .341. Both have 17 stolen bases on the year, good for a team-high. Wissmiller is second on the team with 30 hits and paces the team with four homeruns and a .511 slugging percentage.

Senior Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North), junior Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville), and senior Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic) have led the pitching staff through 29 games. Certa sits atop the team with a 2.04 earned run average and a 7-2 overall record. She has logged a team-high 79 innings with a team-best 48 strikeouts. Holland is close behind with a 2.13 ERA over 42.2 innings and has a 5-4 record. Gatchell rounds out the trio, having thrown 60 innings over 16 appearances with 46 Ks.

Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 46-12 record against Elmhurst all-time since the series began in 1997. Since the Bluejays swept a doubleheader back in 2021, IWU has grabbed eight straight wins against EU.

Saturday is set to get underway with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Plunket Athletic Complex. Links to the live stream and live stats of each game can be found on the softball schedule page of iwusports.com.

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