Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team returned to conference play on Friday afternoon with a CCIW doubleheader at conference leading Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans won both games in the sixth inning via the run-rule. IWU won the first game 11-3 and the Titans closed out the sweep with an 18-6 victory in game two.
Wheaton returns to Ruth Leedy Field on Saturday for a doubleheader against Mount Mary that begins at 1:00 p.m. Prior to Saturday's first game, the Thunder softball program will honor its seniors with "Senior Day" activities scheduled to begin at approximately 12:50 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan won today's first game 11-3 as the hosts scored 11 runs, on 15 hits, with no errors, and Wheaton tallied three runs on nine hits, committing no errors.
Kennedy Kemp was 2-for-3 with a double, in game one.
Livi Figueroa and
Isabel Hillyer each hit a home run for the Thunder.
Abie Brown,
Olivia Nahorniak,
Abby Whitehead and
Cate Welch each hit singles in the opener.
Illinois Wesleyan led early with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Wheaton responded with two runs in the top of the second inning on back-to-back solo home runs by Figueroa and Hillyer. The Titans regained the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Nahorniak hit a RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning to trim the Titans' lead to 5-3. IWU scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to extend the hosts' lead to 7-3. Illinois Wesleyan scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game on the run-rule with an 11-3 victory.
The Titans won today's second game 18-6 as IWU scored 18 runs, on 19 hits, with zero errors, and Wheaton scored six runs, on nine hits, with no errors. Nahorniak was 4-for-4, with one home run as she drove in two runs and scored twice. Welch was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Hillyer hit a double for the Thunder, while Figueroa and
Paige Andrews each added a single.
Illinois Wesleyan scored two runs in the top of the first inning, however, Wheaton responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead. Nahorniak hit a solo home run for the Thunder to lead off the top of the first inning. Figueroa drove in a run with a RBI-single and Hillyer drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Wheaton's third run of the inning.
The Titans responded with three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-3 lead and Wheaton scored a run in the bottom of the second inning to trim the hosts' lead to 5-4. Welch hit a RBI-single that drove in Nahorniak for Wheaton's run in the second inning.
Illinois Wesleyan scored a run in the top of the third to extend their lead to 6-4 and the Titans added another run in the top of the fifth inning to increase their edge to 7-4. Wheaton added two runs in the fifth inning to cut the IWU lead to 7-6. Hillyer hit a RBI-double in the fifth and Nahorniak hit a RBI-single to drive in Hillyer. The Titans scored 11 runs in the top of the sixth inning to force the run-rule at the end of the sixth.
