The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team is set to continue its road trip with a three-game series against No. 12-ranked Washington University in St. Louis this weekend at Kyle Field. The Titans will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 7, starting at 11 a.m., followed by the series finale on Sunday, March 8, at noon.
Illinois Wesleyan enters the matchup with a 1-5 record while WashU remains undefeated at 6-0. Last weekend, Illinois Wesleyan played in Memphis, Tennessee, dropping games to DePauw University and Rhodes College. Sophomore Ben Ford led the Titans offensively over the week with a .416 batting average and tallied five hits during the weekend’s contests. Junior Eli Kieser recorded his first three-hit game as a Titan by going 3-for-4 in the final game against Rhodes College. Sophomore AJ Weller finished with four hits in eleven at-bats and drove in two runs; he now leads the team with a .542 batting average.
WashU began its season at the Babe Howard Classic in Milligan, Tennessee, defeating No. 15 Webster and Benedictine in seven-inning games. The Bears also beat Millikin University and recently swept Coe College to start March.
This upcoming series marks the 70th meeting between Illinois Wesleyan and WashU since their first encounter in 1990. Illinois Wesleyan currently holds an all-time advantage of 35 wins to WashU’s 34. In last year’s three-game series, head coach Michael Kellar’s Titans won one out of three games against WashU; Cade Tomhave went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored to help secure that victory for Illinois Wesleyan.
The teams have played each other primarily in St. Louis but have also met elsewhere, including during the NCAA Tournament in Millington, Tennessee, where Illinois Wesleyan eliminated WashU in 2012.
The upcoming series will be available for viewing through FloSports behind a paywall subscription service priced monthly or annually. Live statistics for all games will be provided by WashU.
“This weekend’s game will mark the 70th all-time meeting between the Titans and Bears,” according to information from Illinois Wesleyan Athletics staff.
