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Ben Ford hyped after a double
ASHTIN ELDER PHOTO
8
Winner Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 7-15, 3-3 CCIW
7
Elmhurst ELMHURST 6-17, 0-4 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
7-15, 3-3 CCIW
8
Final
7
Elmhurst ELMHURST
6-17, 0-4 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 3 1 8 12 1
Elmhurst ELMHURST 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 7 11 2

W: Tomhave , Brennan (3-1) L: Logan Leach (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Titans’ Late Inning Heroics Power Comeback Against Elmhurst

IWU used five extra base hits to complete the win


ELMHURST, Ill.- A two-out seventh inning comeback fueled the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team past Elmhurst University, 8-7, at Butterfield Park Wednesday evening, April 8. With the win, IWU improves to 8-15 and 4-3 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action, while EU remains winless at 0-5 in league play and 6-18 overall.

Sophomore Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) smashed out four hits for the third time this season and second time in four days. Ford recorded a pair of singles and two doubles en route to the Titans collecting five extra base hits. Junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) recorded another multi-hit game with a double and a pair of runs batted in. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) came up clutch for IWU again with his one hit being the game tying home run in the eighth. Since being inserted into the lineup in the series finale against Millikin, Novak has 10 hits and six RBI's.

The Green and White manufactured the win with four pitchers. First, was senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) who threw four innings and surrendered five hits and three runs, fanning four. Junior Caleb Martinez (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling) and freshman Myles Hammond (Lakewood, Ill.-Shelbyville) teamed up to work the next 2.1 innings. Martinez gave up three runs, but Hammond kept the Bluejay offense at bay, keeping them scoreless. Sophomore Brennan Tomhave (Pittsfield, Ill.-Pittsfield) earned the win finishing out the final 2.2 innings. Tomhave blew it past three batters and let up just a run on two hits. 

A silent first inning was welcomed with a run scoring second by the Titans. Novak and junior Luca Morelli (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) produced the opening run without recording a hit. Novak worked a full count walk and then took off for second base. An overthrow into center field allowed Novak to rush to third. Morelli brought him in with a sacrifice fly to right field

The Bluejays hopped in front in the top of the fourth, erasing its zero on the scoreboard with a three. The inning started with a single up the middle and a steal of second. Another single back up the middle tied the score at one before a two-run homerun from EU's Timothy O'Connell put the Bluejays up two. Elmhurst assembled three more runs in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. EU used four hits, a pair of doubles and two singles, to build momentum heading into the ladder innings of the game.

The Green and White answered the three-run fifth from Elmhurst with three of its own. Sophomore AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) and Ford teamed up for back-to-back singles to open the inning and Ford stole second to set up Ferraro. The lefty sent a ball right back up the middle to score a run. After a run scoring ground-out from Flagg, Ferraro came home on an errant throw by the first baseman to make it 6-4 at the end of sixth. 

The offense was stagnant in the seventh but Novak played hero an inning later. Ford kickstarted the frame with a double to left-center but was followed with two quick outs from Ferraro and Flagg. In stepped Novak with two outs who lifted a deep fly over the fence to pull the Titans even at six. Illinois Wesleyan was not done in the inning as Morelli worked a free pass to extend the inning to senior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington). The scrappy lefty lined a ball into the opposite field for a two out RBI triple to complete the comeback. 

Tomhave worked a clean eighth to bring IWU to the plate looking to add on more. The first two batters in the Titan lineup were set down to start the ninth but Ford rifled his second double and fourth hit of the day to move the line. Ferraro replaced him at second with a double into the left-center gap making it 8-6. The hard-throwing righty finished off the game but not without a little drama. Elmhurst doubled in a run with two outs in the ninth but Tomhave worked a groundout to Weller to cap off the win.

Illinois Wesleyan continues its four-game week with a battle against Carthage in Kenosha, Wis. Saturday, April 11. The CCIW contest from Augie Schmidt Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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