NAPERVILLE – Thursday afternoon marks the beginning of the 32nd annual College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Softball Tournament, scheduled for Illinois Wesleyan’s Inspiration Field in Bloomington, Ill. 
 
Two single-elimination quarterfinal games are slated for noon and 2 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the beginning of the double-elimination semifinal round Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
 
Fourth-seeded Augustana will kick things off against fifth-seeded Carthage Thursday at noon, with the winner advancing to play top seed Illinois Wesleyan Thursday at 4:30 p.m. In other quarterfinal, #3 North Park draws #6 Elmhurst at 2 p.m. with second-seeded Millikin awaiting the winner for a 7 p.m. first pitch on Thursday.
 
Three games are scheduled for Friday – two of which will be elimination games. The title game is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. with an if-necessary contest that would immediately follow.
 
#1 Illinois Wesleyan
Regular-season CCIW co-champion Illinois Wesleyan won the right to host the 2023 CCIW Tournament by virtue of its doubleheader sweep of co-champion Millikin on April 19. The Titans won 25 games, including a 14-2 league mark. The Titans, who won last year’s tournament and six titles since 2014, are hosting the tournament for the first time since 2019 and the 14th time overall.
 
IWU, which put seven players on Tuesday’s All-CCIW Team, led the league during conference play in nearly offensive category, including batting average (.340), runs scored (102) and home runs (22). Illinois Wesleyan has hit 37 home runs overall, sixth-most nationwide.
 
The Titans also registered a team earned-run average of 2.57 and limited opposing lineups to a .225 batting average.
 
#2 Millikin
Millikin shared the regular-season title with Illinois Wesleyan, going 27-9 overall and 14-2 in the league. The Big Blue will bring an eight-game win streak overall into the tournament, and have also won eight in a row on the road since April 1. Millikin, which won the 2021 CCIW Tournament, will be aiming for its fourth conference tournament crown overall.
 
MU boasts the CCIW’s top pitching staff with a team ERA of 2.07 over 108.0 league innings. Opposing hitters put up a league-low .184 average against the Big Blue and five of Millikin’s 14 conference wins were shutouts. The Big Blue’s team fielding percentage of .969 also paced the conference.
 
Offensively, Millikin hit .327 with 100 runs scored and stole a league-best 50 bases. The Big Blue’s 3.03 steals per game over the full season rank 13th in Division III.
 
#3 North Park
North Park set new program bests with nine league wins and third-place finish in the regular-season standings. NPU, which went 0-2 in the 2021 CCIW Tournament, will be looking for its first-ever tourney win. The Vikings’ offense ranked fourth in the league with 66 runs scored, while NPU pitchers ranked fifth in the CCIW with a 3.26 ERA.
 
NPU won at least one contest against seven of eight CCIW opponents, including a 6-3 win over league co-champion Illinois Wesleyan on April 30. The Vikings play Elmhurst Thursday. The two squads split their CCIW doubleheader on April 25 in Chicago. 
 
#4 Augustana
Augustana finished tied for third place in the CCIW standings at 9-7 but earned the tournament’s fourth seed. The Vikings went 1-2 in the 2021 CCIW Tournament and played in three consecutive league tournaments from 2013 through 2015, including a championship win in 2013.
 
The Vikings will play a win-or-go-home quarterfinal game against Carthage Thursday at noon. Augie and the Firebirds split their regular-season twin bill in the Quad Cities on April 7.
 
The Vikings won five of their last eight games – all against CCIW opponents – since April 23. They’ll be in search of their sixth neutral-site win of 2023 when they face the Firebirds on Thursday. CCIW Pitcher of the Year Nadia Ranieri headlines an Augustana staff that punched out 115 batters in 113.0 CCIW innings. 
 
#5 Carthage
Carthage is in its seventh consecutive CCIW Tournament after winning 12 games overall and earning a 7-9 league record. The Firebirds played for the CCIW Tournament championship as recently as 2019. Thursday’s game against Augustana marks Carthage’s 11th neutral-site game this spring. The Firebirds went 4-6 on the season-opening trip to Clermont, Fla.
 
Four Firebirds earned All-CCIW accolades. CC’s 67 runs scored ranked third in the league during the 16-game conference schedule and its 25 doubles ranked first. 
 
#6 Elmhurst
Elmhurst, which opened the CCIW schedule with three wins in its first four games, then put together a three-game league win streak in April, secured the tournament’s final bid. Excluding the nine-team tournament in 2021. EU is in the CCIW postseason for the first time since 2012.
 
The Bluejays are the league’s most patient squad, drawing a CCIW-best 59 walks during the conference schedule. Elmhurst posted a .352 on-base percentage, fourth-highest in the CCIW, and also put together a .967 fielding percentage to rank tied for second among league foes.