McLean County Times

After securing the third seed for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team is set to face Carthage College in the first round. The game will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8. The tournament runs from May 8 to May 11 and will be hosted by North Park University at Holmgren Athletic Complex.

Illinois Wesleyan aims to win its first tournament title since 2014 when it defeated North Central with a score of 8-3, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If IWU wins against Carthage, they will face Millikin University on Thursday at 3 p.m.; if Carthage wins, they will play North Park at noon.

Recently, Illinois Wesleyan lost to North Park with a score of 15-2. However, earlier this season, IWU won two games against Carthage with scores of 13-3 and 4-0.

The upcoming game marks the 112th meeting between IWU and Carthage since their series began in 1991. Currently, IWU leads the series with a record of 60-52.

Illinois Wesleyan ranks first in conference batting average (.327), led by freshman John Philip Ferraro with a .472 average in CCIW contests. Junior Justin Gadomski also contributes significantly with a .382 batting average and leads in hits (32), total bases (42), and slugging percentage (.545).

On the pitching side, junior Dalen Banks has pitched over 40 innings in conference play while sophomore Cole Shamhart leads in strikeouts with 41. The team's ERA stands at third place within CCIW rankings.

Live stats and video coverage for all tournament games will be available online.