BLOOMINGTON/ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst University baseball team battled through a challenging three-game set against Illinois Wesleyan, ultimatley dropping all three games in the series.
GAME ONE | IWU 10, ELMHURST 1
In the opening game of the series, Illinois Wesleyan used a steady barrage of hits and a dominant mid-game surge to pull away from Elmhurst, ultimately claiming a 10–1 victory. After tying the game in the third, the Bluejays were quickly overwhelmed by a five-run fourth inning from the Titans and were never able to recover. Illinois Wesleyan racked up 20 hits while holding Elmhurst to just four, cruising to a comfortable win behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Will Davidsmeier.
Rock Smith led the Bluejays at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI single in the third inning that briefly knotted the score. Tommy Wichgers scored the team's lone run and added a stolen base, while Brett Vercruysse and Carson Gnade also swiped bags. Despite drawing six walks, the Elmhurst offense couldn't find much rhythm, striking out nine times and leaving nine men on base.
Illinois Wesleyan got on the board early in the first inning when Cade Tomhave singled home Tristan Figus for a 1–0 lead. Elmhurst answered back in the third, tying the game at 1–1 after Smith delivered an RBI single to plate Wichgers. The Titans responded forcefully in the fourth, with Jack Flagg driving in a run with a double and three more RBI singles following to make it a 5–1 game. The power surge continued into the fifth when JP Ferraro launched a solo home run to right field. The sixth inning saw another explosion, as the Titans strung together five hits—including RBI singles from Jimmy Gurgone, Tyler Woltman, Gage Wolfe, and Flagg—stretching their lead to 10–1. From there, Davidsmeier and reliever Cole Benson shut the door, combining for 11 strikeouts and allowing just four hits across nine innings.
GAME TWO | IWU 13, ELMHURST 12
Illinois Wesleyan rallied from a seven-run deficit to stun the Bluejays,13-12, in walk-off fashion. Elmhurst jumped out to a commanding early lead, but the Titans chipped away before exploding late—including a three-run homer from JP Ferraro in the seventh—to take control. The Bluejays tied it in the ninth, but a costly error in the bottom half allowed the winning run to score, completing the comeback.
Zach Konrad was a standout performer for Elmhurst, going 3-for-6 with a solo home run and two RBIs. Brett Vercruysse also delivered a solid showing, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a walk, while Connor Drowns added a two-run double. Joseph Cervantes and Evan Johnson each chipped in with extra-base hits, as the Bluejays racked up 13 hits and 11 RBIs in their best offensive output of the series.
Elmhurst came out firing in the second inning, scoring three times with Konrad's solo homer and RBI singles from Smith and a bases-loaded walk to Johnson. They tacked on five more in the third with a Drowns double, Vercruysse two-run single, and Johnson RBI double, taking an 8–2 lead. Another run came in the fourth via a Vercruysse fielder's choice. Illinois Wesleyan kept chipping away, scoring three in the fourth and another in the fifth. A throwing error in the sixth cut the deficit to 10–7, and in the seventh, the Titans surged ahead on Tomhave's RBI single and Ferraro's three-run homer to right, making it 11–10. Gadomski doubled in another run in the eighth, but Elmhurst answered with two in the ninth, tying it at 12–12 after Nieves' clutch RBI single. However, a costly error in the bottom of the inning allowed Derek Ittner to score the winning run for Illinois Wesleyan in a heartbreaking finish for Elmhurst.
GAME THREE | IWU 12, ELMHURST 7
Illinois Wesleyan jumped over Elmhurst in the first inning, putting up an eight-run barrage that set the tone for a 12–7 victory and a series sweep. The Bluejays fought back with a five-run second inning and added two more in the sixth, but the early damage proved too much to overcome. The Titans collected 18 hits and held off the late push thanks to strong relief work from Ben Tomhave, who earned a three-inning save.
Brett Vercruysse continued his strong weekend, going 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored. Rock Smith drove in three runs, while Erik Malott added two hits, a run, and an RBI. Evan Johnson and Tommy Wichgers each contributed RBIs, with Wichgers also drawing two walks. Zach Konrad chipped in with a pair of hits and a double, and Elmhurst totaled 12 hits in the loss.
Illinois Wesleyan came out swinging in the first, racking up eight runs on seven hits, including RBI knocks from Jimmy Gurgone, JP Ferraro, Gage Wolfe, and a two-run double by Jack Flagg. By the time the inning ended, the Titans held an 8–0 lead. Elmhurst responded in the bottom half with a fielder's choice RBI from Johnson. In the second, the Bluejays mounted a surge, scoring four runs on a Malott RBI single, a bases-loaded walk to Wichgers, and a two-run fielder's choice from Smith that also scored an additional run on an error, cutting the deficit to 9–5. The Titans tacked on two more runs in the third via a Tomhave RBI single and Ferraro's sacrifice fly. Elmhurst closed the gap slightly in the sixth with another RBI single from Smith and a Johnson sac fly, but Illinois Wesleyan added one final insurance run in the fifth and leaned on Tomhave to close out the final three innings and preserve the win.
UP NEXT
The Bluejays take on Carthage at Butterfield Park this Tuesday, April 8, at 3:00 p.m.
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