Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College softball team upped its record to 19-11 overall and 6-4 in the CCIW by sweeping a pair of games against Illinois Wesleyan University.

Elmhurst edged Illinois Wesleyan 2-1 in the opening game of the doubleheader and the Bluejays rallied to score an 8-6 win in game number two. 

ELMHURST 2, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 1 (Game One) - Elmhurst squeaked out a 2-1 victory as the Bluejays' Stephanie Iori out-dueled Illinois Wesleyan's Christy Engel in a classic pitcher's duel.

The game was scoreless after four innings as Engel retired the first 12 Elmhurst batters she faced. The Bluejays broke the tie in the fifth. Amanda Bowlin led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a ground out moved Bowlin to third, Elmhurst took the lead when Bowlin scored on an Engel wild pitch. 

The Bluejays made it 2-0 in the sixth by plating an insurance run. With two outs and the bases empty pinch hitter Sarah Cademartori was hit by a pitch. Cademartori moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Rose Wysocki grounded a base hit back up the middle. 

With one out in the seventh, the Titans mounted a rally. After a Kris Lee single, pinch hitter Caitlin Carpenter roped the ball to right field. A diving attempt by Elmhurst came up short and the ball rolled to the fence for a run-scoring triple. Stephanie Polich followed with a walk and promptly moved to second representing the go-ahead run. After falling behind in the count, Iori induced Engel to fly out to center for the second out and Maggie Yagen gunned down the potential tying run at the plate to end the game for the Bluejays.

Iori picked up her 11th win of the season by scattering four hits and one run over seven innings of work. She walked four and struck out seven in the win. 

ELMHURST 8, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 6 (Game Two) - Elmhurst completed the doubleheader sweep by rallying for three runs in the top of the seventh to score an 8-6 win over Illinois Wesleyan.

Elmhurst took advantage of a Titans' mistake to score a pair of runs in the first. With the bases loaded and one down, Maureen Roderick hit a grounder to short, but Allison Ward's throw home was wide of the plate allowing a pair of runs to score. 

The Titans scored a run in the first and another in the third to tie the score at two, but Elmhurst reclaimed the lead with three runs in the fourth. With two on and one out, Yagen missed a three-run homer by inches as she tripled off the top of the fence to drive in two. Yagen scored on a wild pitch to give Elmhurst a 5-2 cushion.

The Titans fought back to tie the game at five with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, chasing Iori in the process. Illinois Wesleyan grabbed a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth on an Allison Ward RBI single.

Becca Zumpf led off the seventh with a double to put the tying run on base. After a sacrifice bunt and a ground out, Zumpf stood at third with Elmhurst down to its final out. Bowlin delivered a clutch two-out double to center to knot the score at six. Maureen Roderick followed with an RBI single to drive in Bowlin and put Elmhurst back on top. Gina Venier roped a single to score Roderick and give Elmhurst an 8-6 advantage. 

The Titans brought the tying run to the plate, but Lindsay Nauman induced Kris Lee to ground out to short to end the game.

Zumpf finished 3-for-4 with two runs score while Bowlin, Roderick, and Michele Fournier all recorded two hits apiece. 

Nuaman earned the win in relief, limiting the Titans to just three hits and one run in 2.1 innings of work. She walked one and struck out three.

Elmhurst travels to Aurora University on April 22.