McLean County Times

Softball Sweeps Scots as Grubczak Tosses No-Hitter

Led by a trio of seniors, the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team swept Monmouth College Thursday night, March 23. The Titans won game one, 4-0, before senior Natalie Grubczak's (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) no-hitter fueled IWU to a 5-1 win in the second bout.
 
Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 4, Monmouth 0
A career-high nine strikeouts from senior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) saw the Titans take game one, 4-0.
 
Wild pitches in the fourth and fifth innings saw the Green and White take a 2-0 lead, before senior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) laced a run-scoring double to get things rolling in the seventh. The Titans wrapped up the scoring as Moore crossed home on junior Megan Fontanetta's (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) RBI groundout.
 
Mardjetko displayed plenty of grit en route to her first shutout of the season, as the senior worked around seven hits and six walks to strand 14 Scots on base.
 
Moore finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with a RBI as one of three Titans with multiple hits. Sophomores Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) and Jen Kuhn (Normal, Ill.-University High) each went 2-for-4. Freshman Casey Wissmiller (Bloomington, Ill.-Olympia) finished 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk. Overall, IWU outhit MC by a 10-7 tally.
 
Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 5, Monmouth 1 (5 inn.)
Getting the start in the circle in game two, senior Natalie Grubczak (Medinah, Ill.-Lake Park) was on from the jump. Grubczak retired 12 straight before a walk broke up her perfect game. The leadoff walk in the fifth ultimately scored Monmouth's lone run of the day, but a strikeout ended the game 5-1 in favor of IWU, giving Grubczak the first no-hitter of her career.
 
Run support came consistently for the senior hurler as Fontanetta once again drove in Moore, this time via a sacrifice fly in the top of the first.
 
Freshman Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) led off the second with a single and scooted into second on a wild pitch. After junior Priscilla Peek (Deer Park, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) executed a sac bunt and freshman Wissmiller walked, Moore tripled to drive in two. Monmouth's errant attempt to get Moore at third saw the senior scamper home, upping the lead to 4-0, into the bottom of the second.
 
With Grubczak dealing in the circle, a solo homer from Khoury extended the lead to five. Khoury, who hit a no-doubter to center, whacked her fourth homer of the season.
 
The game was called after five completed innings due to darkness, giving IWU the sweep.
 
Moore capped a strong day at the plate with a 2-for-3 showing to go along with two runs and two driven in. The Titans finished with five hits in all, while Moore and junior Maya Black (Springfield, Ill.-Glenwood) recorded stolen bases.
 
Grubczak's final stat line for the night saw her strikeout two over five innings, while walking one and allowing an unearned run. Her no-hitter is the first by a Titan since Mardjetko's last season.
 
Illinois Wesleyan is slated to play host to Lake Forest College Saturday, March 25. First pitch is currently scheduled for 1 p.m. 

Original source can be found here