DECATUR, Ill. — The 2026 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Championship opened Wednesday with two elimination games at Workman Family Baseball Field in Decatur, Ill.. Third-seeded North Park and fourth-seeded Carthage each earned one-run victories to advance in to the double-elimination bracket. 

Carthage will play top-seeded Millikin on Thursday at noon, while North Park will play second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan on at 3:30 p.m.
 
#3 North Park def. #6 Wheaton, 5-4
Third-seeded North Park opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over sixth-seeded Wheaton on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The game was tied in the bottom of the ninth inning when North Park put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Joe Perona followed with a single to left field, scoring Luke Bellini for the game-winning run and sending the Vikings into Thursday’s matchup against second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan.
 
Wheaton scored first in the top of the opening inning on Charlie Scofield’s sacrifice fly, but North Park answered in the bottom half on Reyn Matsuzaki’s infield single. The Thunder moved back in front in the third with two runs, including an RBI single from Nathan Hedlund.
 
North Park cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fourth when Rylan Li doubled home Kupono Akaka. The Vikings took their first lead in the seventh, as Perona tripled to left field to score Eli Johnson and Li for a 4-3 advantage.
 
Wheaton tied the game in the top of the ninth when Michael Chang singled to left field and an error allowed Sean Dmytrowicz to score from second base.
 
North Park finished with 10 hits, matching Wheaton’s total. Perona drove in three runs for the Vikings, including the two runs in the seventh and the winning run in the ninth.
 
Jackson Nuese started for North Park and worked 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs with four strikeouts. Ethan Condit earned the win after pitching the final 2.0 innings with four strikeouts. David Levengood started for Wheaton and pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs.
 
#4 Carthage def. #5 Augustana, 5-4
Fourth-seeded Carthage followed with a 5-4 win over fifth-seeded Augustana on Wednesday evening.
 
Carthage scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to move back in front after Augustana had tied the game in the top of the seventh. The Firebirds advanced to Thursday’s double-elimination matchup against top-seeded Millikin.
 
Augustana took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Kaileb Hackman’s RBI single. Carthage answered in the bottom half when AJ Gaca reached on an infield error that allowed Michael Ossenfort to score.
 
The Firebirds took the lead in the second when Ossenfort grounded out to score Paul Reedy. Zander Tubbs added a solo home run in the third, giving Carthage a 3-1 lead.
 
Augustana tied the game in the seventh on RBI singles from Hackman and Charlie Bergin. Carthage responded in the eighth when Christian Duarte singled through the right side to score Eric Suarez, and a throwing error later allowed Duarte to score for a 5-3 lead.
 
The Vikings added one run in the ninth when Bergin singled to left field to score Hackman, but Santino Pignotti-Wojtak recorded the final outs for Carthage.
 
Brendan Roberts started for Carthage and worked 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits. Pignotti-Wojtak earned the win in relief, throwing the final 2.2 innings with five strikeouts. Blake Nettleton started for Augustana and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs.