BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Elmhurst baseball team opened up CCIW play by splitting with Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Titans (8-9) banged out 19 hits in taking game one 15-5, but the Bluejays (12-6) bounced back to win a low-scoring game two 4-2.

Illinois Wesleyan 15, Elmhurst 5 (Seven Innings)
The Titans' bats took over in game one as all nine IWU starters recorded hits in a 15-5 win over Elmhurst.

Illinois Wesleyan piled on in the first two innings, scoring nine runs. A.J. Compton put Elmhurst on the board, drilling a single with the bases loaded in the third. In the fourth, the Bluejays knocked around four hits, but left two on base after Brandon Kressner hit a run-scoring double down the left-field line. Elmhurst made it five unanswered runs when Ben Havel doubled to right, scoring two in the sixth.

Illinois Wesleyan responded by piling on six runs in the final two frames.

Ryan Millan took the loss for Elmhurst, while Kiko Mari ate up five innings and Chris Eberhart was called upon in the seventh.

Matthew Mardis led the Illinois Welseyan attack with a 4-for-4 game, including three RBIs. Nick Huskisson earned the win, tossing six innings.

Elmhurst 4, Illinois Wesleyan 2
Havel and Ben Modesitt combined to stifle the Illinois Wesleyan offense, while Reagan McReynolds scored three of Elmhurst's four runs as the Bluejays earned a split with a 4-2 victory.

Havel tossed seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball with six strikeouts. He worked around multiple jams, including stranding eight runners on base. Modesitt entered with one on and nobody out in the eighth and stranded three runners in the innings before tossing a 1-2-3 ninth.

McReynolds sparked the Bluejay offense from the get-go, leading off the game with a double. With the bases loaded and one out later in the inning, Trey Compton hit a sacrifice fly to score McReynolds and put Elmhurst up 1-0.

McReynolds once again led Elmhurst to some damage in the second inning, pulling a triple down the right-field line that scored Travis Pickard. Kressner then scored McReynolds on a groundout to shortstop and Elmhurst took a 3-0 lead.

As Havel continued to cruise, the Bluejays put their final run on the board in the fourth. McReynolds was hit by a pitch, stole second base and then scored when Kressner reached on an error.

Illinois Wesleyan put its first run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. After a pair of walks and a single, Mardis drove in another run on a sacrifice fly, but that's all the Titan could muster as Havel escaped the jam.

The Titans pulled one closer in the eighth and brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Modesitt escaped only allowing one inherited run. Mardis continued to be a thorn in Elmhurst's side with an RBI single, but with the bases loaded Modesitt forced a groundout to McReynolds at third base, keeping Elmhurst out in front. Modesitt finished the save with a perfect ninth.

Trey Compton and Matt Wilson both added a pair of hits for Elmhurst. For Illinois Wesleyan, Mitch Goll took the loss, allowing all four Elmhurst runs in 3.1 innings.

The Bluejays and Titans will play the rubber game of the three-game series tomorrow at Butterfield Park in Elmhurst. First-pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.