BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Elmhurst University softball team opened CCIW play by sweeping a doubleheader from Illinois Wesleyan University.
 
The Bluejays won the opening game 8-4 and then rallied for a walk-off 5-4 victory in game two. Elmhurst improved to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in the CCIW. The victories marked the first win for Elmhurst over Illinois Wesleyan since the 2014 season and the Bluejays first sweep of the Titans since the 2010 campaign. 
 
ELMHURST 8, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 4 (Game One) – Elmhurst jumped out to a 5-0 lead aided by three home runs and held off a late surge from the Titans to take the opening game 8-5.
 
The Bluejays started the scoring in the top of the second when Alana Batista singled home a run. The Bluejays tacked on three runs in the fourth inning on a pair of home runs. Jamie Haas cracked a two-run blast to start the scoring and Batista added a solo shot to center field to cap the inning for Elmhurst. Mia Tran belted a solo homer with one out in the fifth inning to give the Bluejays a five-run cushion.
 
The Titans surged back in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs aided by a pair of Elmhurst errors. The Bluejays put the game away in the sixth with three insurance runs.
 
Haas, Amaya Chavez and Batista all totaled two hits apiece at the plate. Batista knocked in three runs while Haas and Tran finished with two RBIs apiece.

Sydni Gizynski picked up the win for the Bluejays from the circle. Gizynski tossed all seven innings, scattering nine hits and four unearned runs. She walked one and struck out two.
 
ELMHURST 5, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 4 (Game Two) – Mia Riese belted a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Bluejays to the sweep of the Titans.
 
Elmhurst grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Tran scored on a Titans' error. The Bluejays' lead was short lived as the Titans claimed a 2-1 lead in the top of the second on a two-run homer from Colleen Palczynski. The Titans made it 3-1 in the third with a solo homer from Hayley Earl.
 
The Bluejays cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third when a Riese grounder drove in a run. IWU added a run in the sixth to push their lead back to two at 4-2.
 
The Titans recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh before Elmhurst began its rally. Tran walked and Veronica Zahn followed with a single. Riese then launched her first career homer to center.
Zahn collected two of Elmhurst's four hits in the victory. Riese drove in four of the team's five runs in the win.
 
Jena Hicks earned the win in relief, tossing 2.0 innings and allowing just two hits and one run. She walked one and fanned five. Brianna Pisauro made the start and lasted five innings, scattering five hits and three runs.
 
Elmhurst hosts North Park University on Thursday, March 25 at 3:00 p.m.