ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team took game one at Augustana College Saturday, April 25, but fell in game two to come away with a split in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. The Titans (15-19, 9-7) won game one 9-4 but the Vikings (24-12, 9-8) used three big innings to grab a 12-5 win in game two to maintain the logjam in the CCIW standings.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 9, Augustana 4
A strong start and excellent relief pitching secured IWU a five-run win in game one of the series with the Vikings. Sophomore AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) went 5-of-6 from the plate, scoring two runs and driving in two. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Mokena) continued his strong April, going 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. On the mound, senior Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park-River Forest) tossed six innings, allowing four runs and striking out two.

Junior Caleb Martinez (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling), who picked up the win, and freshman Brayden Elliot (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) combined to pitch the final three innings of the game, relieving Shamhart. Martinez pitched the seventh and eighth, as Elliot came in for the ninth, and combined for no hits, three strikeouts, and just one walk over the final nine outs. 

The Titan offense came to play in Rock Island, Ill. starting their pitcher off with a 3-0 lead after the top of the first. Sophomore Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) walked to first out of the leadoff spot, and sophomore Weller brought him home with an RBI triple. With no outs and sophomore Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) at the plate, Ford knocked a deep shot to right field to bring Weller home for a 2-0 Titan lead. With the Vikings yet to record an out, Novak continued his hot streak, singling to left field and advancing the Titan lead to 3-0. 

With the bases loaded up with Titans and just one out in the third inning, Augie disseminated the threat. Junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) and Novak each knocked singles to put two runners on. Junior Luca Morelli (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) followed that up with a walk, but a pop-up to the infield and a fielder's choice ended a potential big inning for the Green and White. 

It was Ferraro and Novak who boarded the bases back-to-back again in the fifth-inning. Senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-River Forest) followed suit to load the bases with no outs. Morelli skyed one to the outfield to score Ferraro from third on a sacrifice fly, but one run was all the Titans could muster up out of the inning as IWU extended its lead to 4-1. 

Shamhart continued on the mound into the late stages of the game, giving up three runs in the home half of the sixth inning. The game remained tied, 4-4, headed into the top of the seventh. 

IWU didn't take long to regain its three-run lead. Flagg, Hudik, and Weller continued their stellar days, each notching RBI singles in order to extend the Titan lead back to 7-4. Morelli tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, as did Ford with yet another RBI single to give IWU the 9-4 win. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 5, Augustana 14
Illinois Wesleyan plated the game's first run, but a three-run first and five-run third catapulted Augustana ahead, 8-1, into the fourth. 

Novak drove a sacrifice fly to right and Morelli drew a bases-loaded free pass to pull the Titans within five, 8-3, at the midpoint. Augustana came right back though, plating four runs in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open, 12-3. The Vikings four-run frame came before an out was recorded as sophomore Caden Addis (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) got the call from the pen. After a passed ball brought in one run, Addis retired the next three batters he faced to send the game to the sixth. 

Flagg clubbed a solo homer on the first pitch he faced in the seventh and Novak added an RBI single into right in the eighth to cut the deficit to seven, 12-5. 

The Vikings got the runs right back in the eighth as a hit by pitch and walk put the first two batters aboard. A grounder to the right side moved runners into scoring position and a single to left capitalized on the scoring chance as Augie moved ahead, 14-5.

Sophomore Michael Gurgone (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) legged out an infield single with one away in the ninth and classmate Evan Les (Tinley Park, Ill.-Saint Laurence) wore a 2-0 offering to make his way on base. Back-to-back flyouts to right halted the comeback attempts as IWU fell, 14-5.

The Titans remain on the road, Wednesday, April 29 at Wheaton College. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.