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Softball group huddle post game against Redlands
AJE Photography 2026
6
Winner Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
4
Redlands REDLANDS
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
6
Final
4
Redlands REDLANDS
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 6 8 2
Redlands REDLANDS 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 4 9 2

W: Holland, Mallory (7-6) L: Brianna Garcia (4-1) S: Gatchell, Caroline (2)

6
Winner Redlands REDLANDS
4
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
Winner
Redlands REDLANDS
6
Final
4
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Redlands REDLANDS 0 0 3 0 2 0 1 6 10 2
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 4 12 2

W: Katlyn Gandara (21-1) L: Certa, Gianna (13-4) S: Caitlynn Griffith (6)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball’s Fight to No. 2 Redlands Falls Short

Titans conclude season with 31-15 record

Note: Due to technical difficulties, the press conference from Saturday's regional championship is not available

WAVERLY, Iowa - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team pushed No. 2 University of Redlands to the Waverly Regional Championship Saturday, May 16. The Titans (31-15) stunned the Bulldogs (41-5) with a 6-4 win in game one, snapping their 30-game win streak, to force a winner take all second game. IWU battled from start to finish, ultimately seeing its season end with a 6-4 defeat.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 6, Redlands 4
The Titans pounced early to take control, 4-0, after just one and a half innings. Sophomore Grace Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) drew a walk and classmate Kelsey Bartels (Downs, Ill.-Tri-Valley) followed with a single. Senior Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) cranked a two-run knock to left-center. IWU tacked on two more in its next trip to the plate, as sophomore Julia Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) led off with a single on a 3-2 offering. Sophomore Riley McDoniel (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) and Grace Wilkens reached to load the bases and Wissmiller once again came to the plate with runners in scoring position, this time with two outs. The senior put the ball in play and snuck it under the glove of the second baseman with runners moving on contact for a 4-0 advantage.

Redlands got two back in the bottom of the frame courtesy of Adyson Kim's two-run homer, but senior Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) ended the threat with a fly out to center.

A two-out rally kicked off by Bartels' eight-pitch walk moved IWU's cushion to three, 5-2. Wissmiller smacked a single up the middle to pass the bat to senior Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara). Sitting at the plate with an even 2-2 count, Beckman laced a single that was mishandled as Bartels scored safely.

Redlands responded with an RBI ground out in the fifth, but a solo shot from senior Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) made it a three-run IWU lead, 6-3, into the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic), who had entered to throw the final three innings, closed out the game for her second save of the year. After getting a quick popup, back-to-back Bulldog doubles made it a two-run game, 6-4. Leaving no doubt, Gatchell settled back in the circle and induced a scorcher to short. Beckman snagged the sinking liner and quickly doubled up Redlands at second to force the if necessary game.

Illinois Wesleyan tallied eight hits in the game with Wissmiller and Post going 2-for-4 each. Redlands recorded nine hits in the game. 

Leaning on the strength of its veterans in the circle, Certa, junior Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville), and Gatchell logged innings. Holland earned the win, her seventh of the year, with two innings of work while scattering three hits and allowing one run.

Game Two: Redlands 6, Illinois Wesleyan 4
Certa returned to the circle in the winner-take-all contest, leaving the game deadlocked 0-0 into the third. After fanning back-to-back batters to open the inning, Certa ran into trouble as an error prolonged Redlands' turn at the plate. A steal and a single brought home the game's first run and UR's Natalie Lowthers homered to catapult the Bulldogs ahead, 3-0. 

The Green and White responded with one of its own in the bottom half of the inning as Grace Wilkens reached on an error and moved to second on a groundout. Wilkens drove a ball that split the right-center gap to score IWU's first run of the game.

Singles sandwiched a walk to load the bases for the Bulldogs in the fifth, but a heady play by Beckman up the middle limited the damage and helped Holland escape the jam. UR's Jenay Scott sent a sure-fire single up the middle, but Beckman raced across to snatch the ball and tag the runner moving to second. A mishap on the base paths ended the inning as IWU trailed 5-1 into its half of the fifth.

Answering the call again, the Illinois Wesleyan offense responded to Redland's busy fifth inning with a crooked number of its own. Back-to-back singles from Blackman and Post led to a Pool single back up the middle to score Beckman. A foul out was the culprit of out number one but Boskey singled to right-center to make it 5-3. With a runner of third, sophomore Ella Hermes (Peru, Ill.-St. Bede Academy) jumped on the first pitch she saw to drive in IWU's third run of the inning via a sacrifice fly.

Redlands picked up a key insurance run in the seventh, extending its lead to two, 6-4, and chasing Holland from the game. Gatchell took over and needed just one pitch in relief for the final appearance of her career to retire the Bulldogs on a 6-3 putout. 

McDoniel singled with two outs in Illinois Wesleyan's final at bat, but the Titans' rally ended there, 6-4.

The loss marks the end of the careers of Beckman, Certa, Gatchell, Post, and Wissmiller. The group was a part of 126 wins, four regular season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, three CCIW Tournament championships, and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the super regionals in 2025. Illinois Wesleyan's 31-win season marks the third 30+ win year in three of the past four seasons.
 
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