Sean Hollendoner and Luca Morelli slap hands

Audrey Peterson

Baseball Heads North for Final Regular Season Midweek

Titans enter final week of CCIW play

4/28/2026 11:00:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A week after defeating Wheaton College at Horenberger Field, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team makes a return trip to the suburbs Wednesday, April 29. IWU starts its last week of the regular season at 6 p.m. in Carol Stream, Ill. Illinois Wesleyan, among other College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foes, is jockeying for position in the conference tournament next week.

Currently with a 15-19 overall mark and 9-7 record in league play, the Green and White sits in second place in the CCIW, sharing the spot with North Park University, after Millikin University clinched the regular season championship this past weekend. The Titans and Vikings are slotted to play an important three-game set this weekend, Friday-Saturday, April 30-May 1. The Thunder (16-19, 9-10 CCIW) have the same number of wins as the Titans, but Wednesday's contest serves as their final league game of the regular season.

Fresh off his second CCIW Hitter of the Week honor, sophomore AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneso) leads the Titans in batting by over 20 points. The lefty's 10 hits last week boosted his average to .387 and is followed by classmate Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) at .366. Weller's consistent April helped him rise to the top of many of the offensive categories for IWU. The lefty leads the team in hits (55) and runs (31), along with 18 extra-base hits. His 28 runs batted in rank third behind junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) and senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest), who have 37 and 30, respectively.

Since being inserted into the starting rotation, sophomore Brennan Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) has been a pleasant surprise for the Titans. IWU has won Tomhave's last four outings, two being starts. The righty flame-thrower is second on the squad with 31 strikeouts in 28.2 innings, only trailing senior Cole Shamhart's (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) 33. At the backend of the bullpen, sophomore Cade Addis (Fairbury, Ill.- Prairie Central) and freshman Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) have held down offenses, in 15 total appearances. The two have combined for 22 strikeouts, in the same number of innings. Elliott holds five saves to his name, and has dominated the league's best, allowing just three hits in four appearances.

IWU and WC are fairly familiar with each other, having met just last week, and over 100 times as members of the CCIW. Powered by junior Luca Morelli's (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) three-run long ball in the eighth inning, the Green and White knocked off the Thunder, 9-7. His home run made it eight straight wins over the Thunder for the Titans, including all four matchups under head coach Michael Kellar. Tomhave started the last game against WC, settling in after a rough first inning. He finished with five solid frames, allowing two runs on a pair of hits. Elliott recorded his fourth save of the year, closing the door in the ninth.

Wheaton will throw the first pitch to Illinois Wesleyan at 6 p.m. in Pfund Stadium. The Thunder will provide a live stream here and live stats can be followed here.

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