McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team is preparing for its final games of the regular season against North Park University. The teams will face off in a doubleheader on Friday, May 3, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., followed by a single game on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Titans will honor their senior class during Saturday's game.

Both Illinois Wesleyan and North Park have secured automatic spots in the conference tournament alongside Millikin and Carthage. The Titans currently hold third place in the conference with an overall record of 22-13 and a league record of 11-6. Meanwhile, the Vikings lead the league with an overall record of 26-10 and a conference record of 14-3.

In their last game, Illinois Wesleyan was defeated by Elmhurst University, who scored eight runs late to win 10-5. North Park recently swept Carroll University in a three-game series with scores of 23-6, 8-7, and 10-2.

Historically, Illinois Wesleyan has played North Park a total of 90 times since 1988, holding an overall advantage with a record of 63-27. However, in their most recent encounter, North Park emerged victorious with an 11-9 win.

Sophomore Cole Shamhart from Oak Park was named CCIW Pitcher of the Week on April 29. This marks his third recognition this season as he maintains an impressive record of 8-0 with an ERA of 2.85, ranking fourth in the conference. Shamhart is joined by junior Dalen Banks and sophomore Will Davidsmeier among the top five ERA leaders in the conference.

Freshman John Philip Ferraro has been performing strongly and is tied for first place in batting average within the conference at .406 alongside Alex Devito from North Park. Ferraro's recent performances include going 1-for-3 against Blackburn and 2-for-4 against Elmhurst.

The Titans dominate four out of five top spots on the batting average leaderboard with Ferraro; juniors Justin Gadomski and Tyler Woltman are tied at .385; senior Louis Perona sits fifth at .384.

The seniors to be recognized on Saturday include Dino Biggers, Jacob Cyrus, Evan Hutson, Michael Passarelli, Louis Perona, Josh Ralston, Aiden Smith, Alex Smith, and Luke Uhwat.

Fans can access live streams and stats for all three games on IWUsports.com under baseball's schedule page.