Luigi Lam

Baseball Sweeps North Park on Senior Day

Titans clinch two seed in CCIW tournament

5/2/2026 8:22:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team picked up a doubleheader sweep of North Park University behind scores of 10-2 and 15-12 Saturday, May 2 at Jack Horenberger Field. With the win, the Green and White clinched the No. 2 seed and a bye into the second round of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament with its opponent to be named after Wednesday's elimination games. The Titans expand their record to 18-20 and 12-8 in league play. North Park falls to 22-18 and 12-9.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 10, North Park 2

Senior Cole Shamhart (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) took the ball for his senior day and did not disappoint. The righty powered through six and a third innings, giving up two runs on four hits. Sophomore Cade Addis (Fairbury, Ill.-Praire Central) worked a scoreless inning and two-thirds on two hits. Freshman Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City Melvin-Sibley) took the mound in the ninth and gave up a run on a hit.

The Green and White's bats bounced back in a big way with 17 hits, aided by three Titans with three-or-more hits. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) rolled over his hot April into May with his third four-hit day of the season and added an RBI. Classmate Luca Morelli (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Adlai E. Stevenson) added three knocks and a pair of doubles for a trio of RBI's. Sophomores AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) and Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Licoln-Way East) tacked on three hits to their respective season totals.

The middle game of the three-game series started scoreless through four and a half innings, similarly to yesterday's contest. A leadoff walk to junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) placed a runner on first and he moved him 90 feet on a single by Novak. Morelli played small ball with a perfectly placed bunt down the first base line to move both runners in scoring position. Senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) fisted a groundball to the middle infield which was good enough to bring home the game's first run. With two outs in the inning senior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) lined a ball past the shortstop to make it 2-0.

The top of the lineup doubled the Titans' lead in the following inning. Consecutive singles from Hudik and Weller put IWU in prime scoring position. With runners on the corners, sophomore Ben Ford (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) lifted a fly into center which was deep enough to score Hudik. Ferraro reached first on a hit by pitch and Novak squeaked a groundball into left, as Weller beat the throw home for a 4-0 advantage.

NPU tip-toed its way back in the game, tagging Shamhart for a pair of runs in the sixth. A comebacker back at Shamhart started the inning, but back-to-back hits and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. The bottom of the order rallied for a pair of RBI singles to cut the lead in half. Still with one out and runners on the corners, Addis ordered up a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to bring IWU up to bat.

After Ford reached on a fielder's choice, Ferraro singled over the first baseman's head to move him to third. Novak dribbled a ball past the diving third baseman's glove to give IWU a 5-2 lead. Morelli scored Ferraro on a hard-hit that ricocheted off the third baseman and made its way along the warning track in foul territory. Illinois Wesleyan put the game out of reach in the ensuing inning. Senior Tommy Willard (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) worked a four-pitch walk and Hudik reached on a beautiful bunt single down the first base line. A groundout put the first out on the board but Ford sliced a ball into right-center to score Weller and Hudik to make it 8-2. Morelli carded a two RBI double to cap the scoring at 10-2.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 15, North Park 12

The Titans used a hodgepodge of pitchers to get through the final game of the regular season. Junior Caleb Martinez (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling) went the first two innings and gave up six runs on four hits. Senior Nathan Waterman (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South), freshman Myles Hammond (Lakewood, Ill.-Shelbyville) and senior Marshall Ingold (Rochester, Ill.-Rochester) went the next three innings. Ingold threw a scoreless fifth frame before giving way to sophomore Danny Johnson (Chicago, Ill.-St. Ignatius) for the next two. Sophomore Michael Gurgone (Moekena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) threw a scoreless eighth and Elliott took care of the ninth.

Novak racked up three more hits in game two, including an RBI. Willard joined the three-hit club and a career-high four RBI's. Ford out-did Willard in the RBI category with five, a career-high of his own. Hudik and Weller also enjoyed multi-hit efforts.

Martinez fell on the short-end of an unlucky opening inning, as the leadoff batter legged out an infield hit to first. A slow bouncing ball to third base was out number one, but the runner was moving on the pitch, and made his way to third on the throw across the diamond. The three-hole batter did his job with a sacrifice fly to center to open the scoring. The Vikings put up a three spot in the second after a two-out rally. It began with a walk and followed with an RBI double, a walk, and another RBI double.

The Green and White followed North Park's big inning with a crooked number of its own in the second. Novak opened with a hustle double into left-center and then swiped third when nobody was looking. Two straight walks filled the bases plus a hit by pitch to Wolfe made it 4-1, and another walk added a second run. Now with one out and the bases loaded, Weller looped a hit into shallow right-center to knot the score at four. The Titans looked poised to add on more but an inning-ending double play halted IWU's hope.

The back-and-forth continued as NPU struck for three runs on just two hits. Two walks led off the inning and a single loaded the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly regained the lead for the Vikings and a two run single increased it to 7-4.

IWU used Novak's sixth hit of the day to start the third. Morelli and junior Eli Kieser (Bloomington, Ill.-University High School) reached base on a single and a walk, respectively, before a strikeout resulted in out number one. With the bases packed, Willard roped a ball into left to score a pair of runs and Hudik drove in the other to tie it at seven.

North Park continued its every inning scoring streak with two more in the fourth. The Vikings utilized a leadoff walk and moved him to second on a tap to the pitcher. A high fly bounced off the right field wall, but a quick throw in held the runner at third. A dribbler to third helped a run across and a two-out single made it 9-7. Capitalizing on another leadoff walk, NPU plated one run in the fifth on a single to left.

Willard kept a drive fair down the left field line for a one-out double and moved to third when Hudik reached on an error. Weller flew out to right, but it was deep enough to score Willard, making it 10-8. Inching closer, IWU began its home half of the sixth with three straight baserunners to load the bases. A base on balls to Wolfe plated a run and kept the bases loaded for Willard who brought in the tying run on a sacrifice fly to right. The order flipped to Hudik at the top who gave the Green and White its first lead of the game on a single into right, scoring Morelli.

The lead did not last long, as NPU's first batter of the seventh inning sent a home run over the 310 sign in right, tying it at 11. Illinois Wesleyan took the lead for the second time, this time for good, in the eighth. Sandwiched between two outs, Kieser singled to right and Willard did the same with two outs. Hudik came up clutch with a single through the right side to score the go-ahead run. The damage was not done, as Weller doubled on a one-hopper to left to score a pair of runs. The insurance kept coming when Weller scored on a Ford see-through single into left to make it 15-11.

With the win, the Titans will welcome a bye into day two of the CCIW Tournament. IWU will play the winner of Wednesday's elimination game in Decatur, Ill. Thursday, May 7.

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