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Brennan Tomhave and Josh Gugora celebrate win against NCC
Donny Cortez
4
North Central (Ill.) NCC 16-14
15
Winner Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 11-17
North Central (Ill.) NCC
16-14
4
Final
15
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
11-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
North Central (Ill.) NCC 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 4 8 1
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 1 1 5 8 0 X 15 11 0

W: Shamhart, Cole (3-1) L: Jonny Rossi (2-3)

5
North Central (Ill.) NCC 16-15
8
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 12-17
North Central (Ill.) NCC
16-15
5
Final
8
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
12-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
North Central (Ill.) NCC 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 5 9 0
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1 0 0 2 1 4 0 0 X 8 12 0

W: Martinez, Caleb (1-3) L: Brian Duvall (2-1) S: Elliott, Brayden (3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader From North Central

Titans post 23 combined runs

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In a critical College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team swept a doubleheader from North Central College Saturday, April 18, at Jack Horenberger Field. Behind a game one seven-inning blowout (15-4) and an 8-5 win in game two, the Green and White boosts its record to 12-17 and 7-5 in league play. With the pair of wins, IWU will play for the series sweep tomorrow, and leapfrogs NCC for fourth-place in the CCIW, two weeks out from the conference regular season finale.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 15, North Central 4 (7 inn.)
Senior Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) powered his way through six innings on a season-high 113 pitches. In his sixth start of the year, the righty weaved in-and-out of trouble, dodging five hits and giving up three runs. He tied his season-high with eight strikeouts and walked four. The Titans used just two pitchers in the win as classmate Marshall Ingold (Rochester, Ill.-Rochester) went the seventh inning, polishing off the win. The lefty saw three hits land and gave up a run.

The IWU offense put together a collective effort as seven of the nine batters recorded a hit and all nine reached base. A three-hit performance from the CCIW batting average leader, junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central), fueled the Green and White to 11 hits. Two other Titans recorded multi-hit games with junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) putting in two hits with three runs batted in. Senior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) enjoyed a stellar game, reaching base on a walk and a pair of hits, including a double.

Shamhart breezed through a 1-2-3 top of the first, but uncovered trouble in the second. An out to start the inning was trailed with a double that kissed the foul line in right field. With a runner on second, a line drive into right field brought home the first score of the day.

The Titans answered the run with one of their own in the bottom of the inning. With help from NCC's starting pitcher, Johnny Rossi, IWU loaded the bases, all on walks. Wolfe worked the fourth free pass of the inning to tie the game, but a double play thwarted the threat, as Illinois Wesleyan missed out on a golden opportunity. 

Shamhart returned the favor by handing out two base on balls and a hit by pitch to load the bases for NCC in the third. A flyout to left and center were the causes for outs one and two and then with the bases juiced, a flyout to sophomore Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) in right put the storm at bay for out number three.

More walks plagued the Cardinals in the fourth. Still without a hit in the game, IWU utilized a pair of free passes and a fielder's choice to set up runners on the corners with one out for Ferraro. The lefty pounded a ball into the turf to the right side to score a run for a 2-1 advantage.

North Central started the fourth working a leadoff walk, but two quick outs stalled momentum. Looking to get out of the inning, Shamhart suffered a two-out, two-run homer to the nine hitter, giving the lead to NCC. 

The back-and-forth ballgame kept afloat as the Titans drew within one on junior Luca Morelli's (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) first career homer. A walk put a runner on for Wolfe who smoked a double off the top of the right field wall, setting up runners in scoring position. The Green and White regained the lead on back-to-back walks to senior Tommy Willard (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) and sophomore Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), and tacked on another after a sacrifice fly from sophomore AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo). With two outs, Ferraro gave IWU a four-run cushion with a single into right to make it 7-3.

Still struggling to find the strike zone, NCC handed out its 10th walk to senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest), which was chased with a single by Wolfe and two straight walks to score another run. IWU grew its lead to 11-3 when Weller and Ford notched back-to-back basehits. Novak snuck a double inside the third base bag to drive home two more, and Willard singled with the bases loaded to grow the lead to 15-3. The Cardinals attempted a comeback to push the game past seven innings but Ingold slowed the momentum with a pair of popups to secure the 11-run win.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 8, North Central 5 
The Green and White picked up right where it left off in game one. Hudik slapped a single into left to get the ball rolling and would score on another Novak double into right center. 

Senior Jake Pullam (Palatine, Ill.-Palatine) ran wild to open up the second after a leadoff single. The righty proceeded to hand out a free pass and hit the next batter to load the bases with no outs. He got the ensuing batter to roll over into a fielder's choice but one Cardinal crossed the plate to tie the game. Still in danger, a line drive to the right side looked to be a sure hit, until Wolfe snagged it in the air and doubled off the runner at first for an impressive save of the inning.

Freshman Anthony Batshon (Homer Glen, Ill.-Lockport Township) opened the fourth with his second career hit into left. The Titans played small ball from there, as Batshon moved to second on a Wolfe sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. Willard followed with a high fly into right that got caught up in the sun and dropped for a run scoring double. 

The Cardinals crept back to cut the lead to one in the fifth, utilizing two gifts from Pullam. A walk and hit by pitch was the closing of the righty's day as junior Caleb Martinez (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling) endured a daunting situation with runners on first and second with nobody out. Runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and one scored on a sacrifice fly for out number two. Martinez limited the damage by rolling over the next batter to get out of the fifth.

After North Central cut into the lead, IWU built it right back with two runs in the bottom half. Batshon reached base on his second hit of the evening and moved up 90 feet on a Willard single. Flipping the lineup to the top, Hudik continued the trend with an RBI single back up the middle to make it 4-2.

A single started the sixth for the Cardinals and a sacrifice bunt put NCC in position to strike with the top of the order. A single sent back up the middle cut the IWU lead to 4-3. The rally continued with a bunt single, and a walk filled the bases for a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Martinez limited the damage again, stranding runners on the corner to escape the jam.

In an inning where Flagg started and ended it, the Titans struck for four in the sixth. Flagg started with a base hit into center that was followed with a walk to Ferraro. Novak pierced a ball to the right-center warning track which was mishandled because of the sun, resulting in bases being loaded. A walk to junior Eli Kieser (Normal, Ill.-Normal University) brought home a run and Willard beat out an infield single to score another. Leading 6-4 with the bases packed, walks to Hudik and Weller scored a pair of runs, resulting in an 8-4 Titan lead.

Martinez stayed occupied on the mound with lots of traffic on the bases. A quick out was followed by a high fly to right that covered the monster for a solo shot from the eight hitter. A walk followed, as well as a hit by pitch, but Martinez buckled down to get a big strikeout for out number two. The Cardinals worked another walk to load the bases for its cleanup hitter, but Martinez punched him out swinging to preserve the three-run lead.

The Cardinals returned the walk favor, giving the Titans three of their own to load the bases with nobody out. IWU failed to take advantage, as a pair of infield popups and a bouncer back to the pitcher were taken care of.

Pullam took the ball for the first four innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. The righty struck out three and handed out five walks. Martinez got through the next three innings, batting through trouble, but kept the game at bay. He finished with four hits allowed with three runs and a trio of punchouts. Freshmen Anthony Fry (Libertyville, Ill.-Libertyville) and Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City-Melvin Sibley) closed the door in the eighth and ninth, respectively. Fry took care of the eighth with a strikeout and Elliott recorded his third save of the season with a game-ending double play.

The Illinois Wesleyan offense produced 12 more hits in game two, with five Titans logging multi-hit games. Willard led the way in the eight-hole with his first three-hit game of the season. He added two RBIs and one run scored. Hudik followed with a pair of hits and two runs batted in. He reached base safely five times, aided by three walks. Novak continued his dominant day, and week, extending his hit streak to 12 games with five total on day. Batshon connected for his first career multi-hit game with two runs scored

The Green and White will go for the series sweep against North Central tomorrow, April 18, at Zimmerman Stadium in Naperville, Ill. First pitch of game three will be thrown at 2 p.m.
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