Southern Maine Ousts Titans from D-III Series
Click here for IWU/Southern Maine Box Score

Southern Maine banged out 15 hits and took advantage of five Illinois Wesleyan errors in ousting the Titans from the Division III College World Series, 12-2, on Saturday in Appleton, Wis.
The Huskies (37-13) roughed up IWU starter Steve Schilsky (8-3) for five runs in three innings and collected five unearned runs off Josh Ward in 2 2/3 innings. The Titans finally pushed across two runs in the ninth inning, ending an 18-inning scoreless drought.
Righthander Mark Russell (7-1) scattered seven hits in the conplete game win. Five Southern Maine starters had two or more hits and Jody Curcuru and Pat Toomey blasted home runs.
IWU ended its season with a 37-15-1 record and made its first-ever appearance in the Division III national championships.

St. Thomas Blanks IWU in First Round
Click here for IWU/St. Thomas Box Score

Lefthander Bryan Whinney allowed just three hits and struck out nine over eight innings to pitch the University of St. Thomas past Illinois Wesleyan, 7-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division III baseball championship on Friday in Appleton, Wis.
St. Thomas (36-9), the runner-up in the tournaament the past two seasons, hammered out 16 hits in the win. Brad Bonine, Tom Carroll and Tony Wolverton each had three hits for the Tommies. Wolverton had three runs batted in and Carroll blasted a home run in the ninth inning
IWU (37-14-1), making its first-ever appearance in the Division III College World Series, got two hits from Justin Cripe and one each from Chris Kaufman and a double from Ryan Gilfillan.
Senior Adam Palmer (8-4) took the loss for IWU. He allowed 15 hits in 8 1/3 innings.
At Thursday night's Division III championship banquet, IWU's Steve Schilsky was named second team All-American as a pitcher and Gilfillan was the third team All-American shortstop. Schilsky will start the Titans' second game of the tournament, which will be played Saturday at 1:15 p.m. against the loser of the Cortland State/Southern Maine game.

Division III College World Series Links

NCAA Division III Baseball Championships (results, schedule, weather)
Chapman University
University of St. Thomas
SUNY-Cortland State
Marietta College
Montclair State University
University of Southern Maine

Illinois Wesleyan Advances to College World Series;
Titans Make First Appearance in Div. III Tourney Friday

The Illinois Wesleyan Titans, making their first appearance in the NCAA Division III baseball championship round, will open against the University of St. Thomas at 4:30 Friday (May 25) in the first round of the tournament.
IWU (37-13-1) captured the Central Region title with a 7-6 win over Wartburg on Sunday. IWU lost Sunday's first game, 11-10, in 10 innings, snapping a 17-game winning streak. That school record win streak dated back to a 5-1 loss on April 21 at Elmhurst. IWU has won 25 of its last 28 games after starting the season with a 12-10-1 record through April 7.
The double-elimination championship event is played at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis., just west of Appleton. Built in 1995, the 5,500-seat Fox Cities Stadium not only plays host to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, a Midwest League (Class A) farm team of the Seattle Mariners, but also began hosting the NCAA Division III World Series in 2000.
The University of St. Thomas (from St. Paul, Minn.) has a 35-9 record and is making its third straight apparance in the Division III World Series. Coach Dennis Denning's Tommies, NCAA Division III runners-up in 1999 and 2000, are now 22-6 in postseason play over the last three seasons, including a 9-1 record in the Midwest regional.