The top two seeds at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Championship, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central, both remained unbeaten on Thursday, setting up a day-three showdown between the two teams on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, Carthage eliminated Millikin with a 9-0 victory.
Game 3: #1 Illinois Wesleyan 4, #4 Millikin 3
Illinois Wesleyan completed a three-run rally in the sixth inning to edge past Millikin, 4-3. Matt Hudik’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth gave the Titans the lead for good. Hudik also doubled and scored in the first inning, joining John Philip Ferraro with two hits apiece to lead the offense.
Millikin led 3-1 after a three-run third inning, but Illinois Wesleyan tied it at 3-3 in the sixth with a two-run single by Jack Flagg. Hudik followed with the go-ahead RBI. Jake Pullam earned the win, his seventh of the season, pitching six innings and striking out five. Brady Hartman earned his third save, throwing three scoreless innings in relief.
Game 4: #2 North Central 3, #3 Carthage 2
North Central jumped to a 3-0 lead and held off a late rally by Carthage to win, 3-2. John Michael Scumaci had two of North Central’s three hits, while Jackson Bland added a run-scoring double in the sixth inning. Chris Rogers pitched the first 24 outs to earn his third win, and Payton Diaz closed it out with his eighth save.
Carthage scored two runs in the ninth inning, aided by a North Central error, but a key outfield assist from Caleb Coberley at the plate preserved the lead. Diaz then induced a flyout to seal the win.
Game 5: #3 Carthage 9, #4 Millikin 0
Carthage pitcher Ryan Scanlon threw a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 and walking just one in a dominant 9-0 win over Millikin. Scanlon allowed just five hits to earn his seventh win of the season.
PJ Moser led the offense with three hits, while Matt Felber drove in three runs, including RBI singles in the third and sixth innings. Carthage scored in six different innings to seal the win and advance to the next day of the tournament.
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