NAPERVILLE – As the calendar officially shows the month of March, more than two dozen games across five different states compose the upcoming College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) weekend baseball schedule.
 
All nine teams are scheduled to be in action, seven of which will be playing neutral-site contests.
 
Upcoming Schedule (Subject to change)
Friday, March 3
Carthage vs. Albion, 9:30 a.m. CT (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)
Augustana vs. Cornell, 3 p.m. (Topeka, Kan.)
#21 North Central at Spalding, 4 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, March 4
Carthage vs. Anna Maria, 9 a.m. CT (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)
#21 North Central vs. Kalamazoo, 10 a.m. CT (Louisville, Ky.)
North Park vs. Hanover, 10 a.m. (Sauget, Ill.)
Wheaton vs. Wilkes, 10 a.m. (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Wheaton vs. Wilkes, 1 p.m. (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Augustana vs. Luther, Noon (Topeka, Kan.)
Illinois Wesleyan at WashU, Noon
St. Scholastica at Millikin, Noon
Carthage vs. Grove City, 12:30 p.m. CT (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)
North Park vs. Benedictine, 1 p.m. (Sauget, Ill.)
#21 North Central vs. #12 Denison, 1:30 p.m. CT (Louisville, Ky.)
Elmhurst vs. Central, 2 p.m. (Jacksonville, Ill.)
Illinois Wesleyan at WashU, 2:30 p.m.
Elmhurst vs. Olivet, 5 p.m. (Jacksonville, Ill.)
 
Sunday, March 5
Carthage vs. Fitchburg State, 8 a.m. CT (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)
Elmhurst vs. Olivet, 10:30 a.m. (Jacksonville, Ill.)
Illinois Wesleyan at WashU, Noon
Elmhurst vs. Central, 1:30 p.m. (Jacksonville, Ill.)
Augustana vs. Wisconsin-Platteville, 2 p.m. (Topeka, Kan.)
North Park vs. Hanover, 4 p.m. (Sauget, Ill.)
Coe at Millikin, 4:30 p.m.
 
Monday, March 6
#6 Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Millikin, Noon
Wheaton vs. Thiel, Noon (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Concordia Wisconsin at Carroll, TBA
 
CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week (Hitter): Rob Marinec, North Central
Marinec collected his second consecutive CCIW honor to begin the 2023 season after going 5-for-9 with three RBI in two starts for North Central last week. He was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three driven in in the Cardinals’ 11-3 win over St. Scholastica in Westfield, Ind. on Saturday. The Alsip, Ill. native tacked on another hit and a stolen base later in the day against Otterbein. He has hit safely in all five of his appearances this season and his hit streak dating back to last spring has reached six.
 
CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week (Pitcher): Drew Detmers, Millikin
Detmers, a junior from Chatham, Ill., worked around five singles over 7.0 innings in his victory over Benedictine on Saturday in Decatur. He struck out six and walked only one while lowering his season earned-run average to 3.31.
 
North Central Rises to #21 in D3baseball.com Poll; Ranked Matchup Looms Saturday: North Central is up two spots to #21 in the most recent national poll released by D3baseball.com on Monday.
 
The Cardinals opened the season with consecutive wins over Ripon, Blackburn, DePauw and St. Scholastica as part of their 4-1 start. A 3-1 setback to Otterbein last Saturday (Feb. 25) marked NCC’s only loss thus far.
 
North Central boasts a CCIW-best .433 on-base percentage through its first five games. Rob Marinec, the two-time reigning CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week, has 13 hits, 11 runs scored, five doubles and three home runs to lead the conference and a .591/.654/1.881 slash line through his first five starts. 
 
The NCC pitching staff has been outstanding, posting a league-low 1.93 earned-run average through 42.0 innings. Opponents are hitting just .199 against the Cardinals. Ryan Behling is one of only eight players in the CCIW to have thrown at least 10.0 innings this season, posting a 1.50 ERA with 10 strikeouts.
 
The Derby City Classic in Louisville awaits the Cardinals this weekend. NCC will play host Spalding Friday at 4 p.m. CT, Kalamazoo Saturday at 10 a.m. CT and 12th-ranked Denison Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT.
 
Six February Wins For Millikin: Millikin has played more than a quarter of its regular-season schedule in the season’s first 17 days, putting up a 6-3 mark after road trips to Texas and Arkansas and three non-league games at home.
 
The Big Blue dropped two out of three at East Texas Baptist State, swept a doubleheader from Belhaven and a single game at Hendrix in Conway, Ark. before splitting a home doubleheader with Benedictine and claiming a 6-1 win over Knox. 
 
The season is still young, but sophomore infielder Liam McGill has already proved to be a tough out for MU in 2023. The Bloomington, Ill. native owns or shares the CCIW lead with 11 runs scored and eight stolen bases, all while striking out just once in his first 36 at-bats – currently making him the toughest batter to strike out in Division III this season.
 
Drew Detmers has thrown a league-high 16.1 innings this spring with a 3.31 ERA. He threw 7.0 scoreless innings last Saturday (Feb. 25) against Benedictine to earn CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Caleb Buehrle and Matt Wilson share the CCIW lead with 17 strikeouts apiece.
 
The Big Blue will host St. Scholastica (Saturday, noon), Coe (Sunday, 4:30 p.m.) and #6 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Monday, noon) this weekend at Workman Family Baseball Field in Decatur.
 
Augie Puts Up a 22-Spot: Augustana erupted for 22 runs last Saturday (Feb. 25) – including a 13-run fifth inning – to beat Blackburn in non-conference action, 22-2. It was the Vikings’ first 20-run game since April 10, 2022 versus Elmhurst, their most runs scored since a 25-8 win at Wheaton on April 5, 2008 and their largest margin of victory since topping Minnesota Morris 20-0 on March 16, 2012.
 
The Vikings are 3-2 through their first five contests in 2023, also owning wins over Rhodes (Feb. 18) and Simpson (Feb. 26). Sophomore infielder Cole Green (.409) and newcomer Michael Aragon (.400) are two Augie regulars hitting .400 or better, and junior outfielder Dymitri Kanellakis owns AC’s only home run of the season, a three-run bomb that gave the Vikings insurance in their 7-3 win over Simpson last Sunday.
 
Harrison Boushele, the CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week on Feb. 21, has yet to allow an earned run through his first two starts. He’s struck out 15 and walked only two over 10.0 innings of action. Josh Wintroub, a graduate student from Littleton, Colo., struck out 12 in the Vikings’ win over Simpson, most by a CCIW pitcher in a game in 2023.
 
Augie is off to Topeka, Kan. this weekend for three non-conference games at the Bettis Sports Complex. The Vikings will play Cornell Friday at 11 a.m., Luther Saturday at noon and Wisconsin-Platteville Sunday at 2 p.m.

Wheaton Hits the Beach: A seven-game trip to Fort Pierce, Fla. awaits Wheaton, which will begin the stretch with a Saturday doubleheader against Wilkes at 10 a.m. CT. 
 
The Thunder will also play single contests against Thiel (Monday), Gettysburg (Tuesday), Monmouth (Thursday), Kenyon (March 10) and Gallaudet (March 11) before returning to the Midwest.
 
The Thunder opened the season 1-2 last weekend downstate, dropping a 10-5 decision on Friday (Feb. 24) at Fontbonne before splitting a Saturday (Feb. 25) twin bill at Greenville.
 
Wheaton used 17 players in its 18-6 win over Greenville. Joe Klein and Kyle Wu homered, while Matthias Haggerty collected three of the Thunder’s 14 hits. John McCraith earned the win in relief, striking out four Panthers over 3.1 innings.

Titans Ready For Series at WashU: A Saturday doubleheader at noon and a single contest this Sunday at noon at WashU is due up for Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans will hope to replicate last season’s series win (2-1) over the Bears on March 5-6, 2022.
 
Four regulars have hit .300 or better through IWU’s first four games, led by a .417 average (5-for-12) from senior outfielder Thomas Bleker. The Lombard, Ill. native had a pair of doubles in the Titans’ 11-0 win over Nebraska Wesleyan last Sunday (Feb. 26) in St. Louis. 
 
Sophomore Dalen Banks picked up the win in his Illinois Wesleyan debut last Sunday, working around two doubles and two walks on 78 pitches over 6.0 innings. He struck out four.
 
The Feb. 26 win over NWU was IWU’s lone victory during its 1-3 start. The Titans dropped contests to Greenville (Feb. 24), NWU (Feb. 25) and Fontbonne (Feb. 26). 
 
Bluejays a Winner on Opening Day: Third baseman Troy Taller homered as part of a two-hit day and Zach Keplar stranded the winning run on the basepaths to pick up the save in the ninth inning as part of Elmhurst’s 12-11 opening-day win last Saturday (Feb. 25) in Jacksonville, Ill.
 
The decision was part of a three-game trip to Joe Brooks Field in Jacksonville for EU. The Bluejays lost later Saturday to Loras, 14-4, and suffered a 2-1 walk-off loss to Blackburn on Sunday.
 
Senior infielder Drew Raspolich went 5-for-11 in the Bluejays’ first three games with a double and a pair of stolen bases. Brett Bishop homered against Blackburn and had a team-best four RBI during opening weekend.
 
On the hill, Taller didn’t allow an earned run over 6.0 innings of his Sunday start against Blackburn. He struck out five. Cody Baker threw 3.0 innings of hitless relief in the same game.
 
Elmhurst returns to Jacksonville this weekend for four neutral-site games – two against Central and two against Olivet.
 
Pios Win Series in Kentucky: Carroll opened the 2023 season by taking two out of three games at Berea last Thursday and Friday. The Pioneers stumbled in Thursday’s opener, 12-8, but recovered to sweep the next two contests, 7-4 and 7-6.
 
Freshman outfielder Joey Appino went 6-for-12 with a pair of triples to lead the CU offense at Berea, including a three-hit effort in his collegiate debut. 
 
Nolan Fehrman and Connor Nolen picked up pitching victories in relief. The trio of Fehrman, Daniel Kalinowski and Brody Meyer notched four strikeouts apiece in the series.
 
The Pios return to the diamond on Monday (March 6) for the first of two contests with in-state non-league rival Concordia Wisconsin. The two squads will meet in Waukesha on Monday before squaring off in Mequon on Tuesday (March 7).

North Park Seeks First Win: GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. will be the venue for North Park’s upcoming three-game trip. The Vikings will play Hanover (10 a.m.) and Benedictine (1 p.m.) Friday in the St. Louis suburb and get another shot at Hanover on Sunday at 4 p.m.
 
Cole Fiorenza, a junior outfielder from Libertyville, Ill., has been North Park’s top hitter through the season’s first two weeks. Fiorenza is 4-for-11 with three runs scored and a stolen base. 
 
Junior right-hander Tyler Banks has started two of the Vikings’ first five contests on the mound. He has struck out 13 hitters and walked only three in 9.1 innings of work.
 
The Vikings will be looking to crack the win column after dropping all three games of a season-opening series at Southwestern in Georgetown, Texas on Feb. 17-18. NPU also lost both ends of a doubleheader with Wisconsin-Oshkosh last Sunday (Feb. 26) in Chicago.
 
Carthage Raises the Curtain Friday: Carthage will be the final CCIW squad to begin the campaign when the Firebirds take on Albion this Friday at 9:30 a.m. CT in Lake Myrtle, Fla. It’s the first of four games on CC’s trip to The Sunshine State, which also includes bouts with Anna Maria (Saturday, 9 a.m. CT), Grove City (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. CT) and Fitchburg State (Sunday, 8 a.m. CT).
 
The Firebirds’ first 13 games are scheduled to be at neutral sites. The home opener in Kenosha is scheduled for Sunday, March 26 versus Lawrence.