Softball Takes Down Wartburg in NCAA Regional Play - Illinois Wesleyan University Athletics
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Isabelle Piwowarczyk celebrating
4
Winner Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 31-10
1
Wartburg WARTBURG 23-17
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
31-10
4
Final
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Wartburg WARTBURG
23-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4 8 1
Wartburg WARTBURG 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 5

W: Certa, Gianna (19-2) L: A. Nelson (12-8)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Takes Down Wartburg in NCAA Regional Play

First NCAA regional win since 2019

Press Conference

OSHKOSH, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team began postseason play with a 4-1 triumph over Wartburg College on day one of the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Thursday, May 16, at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Titans move to 31-10 on the season with the victory and advance to the 11 a.m. game tomorrow, May 17, to face host UW-Oshkosh.

Illinois Wesleyan cracked the game open with a leadoff single up the middle off the bat of sophomore Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara). The speedy outfielder swiped second with two outs, but a popup stranded her to send the Knights to the plate.

After back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, sophomore Gianna Certa (Third Lake, Ill.-Grayslake North) stranded a leadoff single on second to keep the game scoreless into the third. 

Freshman Elyssa Stenger (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) reached on an error and moved to second on an expertly executed sacrifice bunt from senior Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove). After Beckman ripped her second single of the day to put runners on the corners, IWU capitalized on a Warburg throw into center to plate the game's first run. Junior Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) doubled the lead with a two-bagger down the right field line to push the lead to 2-0 after two and a half innings. 

IWU's lead carried into the fifth as Certa stranded three before running into trouble in the fifth. The Knights used a single with one out and an RBI double to cut the Titan advantage in half, 2-1, but Illinois Wesleyan came through with some insurance runs in the seventh. 

Fontanetta singled through the left side to get the run-scoring frame going, before Beckman scored on another Wartburg miscue. Sophomore Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) roped a single up the middle to score senior Isabelle Piwowarczyk (Hometown, Ill.-Oak Lawn) on a spectacular circus slide into home. The key play extended the Titan lead to 4-1 with the Knights coming to the plate once more.

Certa worked around a one-out single as Stenger pulled in a pair of foul flyouts to secure the victory. The win marked IWU's first in the NCAA Tournament since the 2019 campaign. 

Illinois Wesleyan finished with eight hits on the day, with six different players recording a base knock. Beckman finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Kuhn went 2-for-4 with a run driven in. 

Certa put together a gutsy complete game performance, limiting the Knights to four hits over seven innings of work. She struck out five and walked one with one run allowed as she moved to 19-2 on the year.

With the win, IWU advances to play top-seeded UW-Oshkosh tomorrow, May 17, at 11 a.m.
 

 
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