JP Ferraro, Jack Flagg, and Luca Morelli stand on the infield grass with their hands over their hearts during the playing of the national anthem

Audrey Peterson

Baseball Prepares for Pair of Midweeks

Titans clash with Thunder and Blue Boys

4/20/2026 4:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team enters the second to last week of regular season play with two midweek opportunities against Wheaton College and Illinois College, Tuesday-Wednesday, April 21-22.

Illinois Wesleyan (12-18, 7-6 CCIW) will host Wheaton in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matchup Tuesday, with first pitch at Horenberger Field at 6 p.m. A quick turnaround lands the Titans in Jacksonville, Ill., for a non-conference game against the Big Blue of Illinois College. The matinee showdown will begin at 1 p.m.

Coming off a successful 4-1 week, the Green and White gear up for four games in five days, beginning with the Thunder. IWU is coming off a series win against North Central College, where it took the first two of the series. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) posted the best week of his career with 13 hits in 22 at bats. The righty slugged an impressive 1.045 and a .591 average. Novak leads the CCIW with a .500 average in conference play and is in the midst of a 13-game hit streak with eight multi-hit showings.

Sophomore Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Licoln-Way East) is the Illinois Wesleyan batting average leader at .364. The lefty leadoff hitter holds the team lead in runs with 27 and his 10 walks last week tied him at the top spot in the respective category. Classmate AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) ranks at the top of the team's list in hits at 46. He and senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) are the only Titans to start in all 30 games this season. Flagg has provided the pop with a team-high five homers, blasting two out in the series finale against the Cardinals.

Freshman Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) has emerged out of the bullpen, with all seven outings happening in the sixth inning or later. The hard-throwing righty leads the team in saves with three, and has fanned seven in 6.1 innings. Another reliable arm out of the bullpen is freshman Anthony Fry (Libertyville, Ill.-Libertyville). The freshman has been a pleasant surprise with a 1-0 record and 4.50 earned run average.

The Thunder bring a 14-17 mark into play, with a 7-8 stamp in conference contests. WC took two-of-three from Carthage College this past weekend, with a pair of blowout wins. The Green and White has dominated Wheaton in the series, holding a commanding 77-29 advantage. IWU has won seven in a row, dating back to 2003. Illinois Wesleyan holds 793 runs scored to Wheaton's 321 in the series. The Green and White swept Wheaton, with two-of-three wins coming in Wheaton, Ill. The Titans took the first game of the set in a 14-13 barnburner at Horenberger Field.

Illinois Wesleyan has a much smaller sample size against IC than Wheaton. The Titans and Blueboys have squared off 17 times, with IWU dropping just three games, and has utilized home field advantage with a 9-1 record at home. Wednesday's meeting will come on the road where the Green and White owns a 3-1 record against the Blueboys. Illinois Wesleyan and IC last met in a 13-12 ballgame April 11, 2023, in Bloomington, Ill. The meeting before that came in 2020 in Florida with the Titans coming from behind to pull out an 11-8 victory.

Illinois Wesleyan's first midweek comes Tuesday evening, April 21, at 6 p.m. against Wheaton under the lights of Horenberger Field. The Titans will turn around and travel to Illinois College for a 1 p.m. first pitch Wednesday, April 21. Both days will provide live stats and a live stream, which can be found on the baseball schedule page at iwusports.com

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