DECATUR, Ill. — Top-seeded Millikin moved into the championship round of the 2026 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Championship with a 12-2 win over third-seeded North Park on Friday at Workman Family Baseball Field.
 
The Big Blue used steady scoring through the middle innings before closing the game with a five-run eighth inning. The contest ended in the eighth due to the 10-run rule.
 
Millikin improved to 2-0 in the tournament and will play for the conference title Saturday at 3 p.m. North Park moved to 2-1 and will face fourth-seeded Carthage in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to meet the Big Blue in the championship round.
 
Matthew Brummer earned the win for Millikin, allowing one earned run over 5.0 innings while striking out seven. Nolan Reiman and Gavin Houchins combined to cover the final three innings out of the bullpen.
 
Millikin opened the scoring in the second inning when Anderson Decker hit a sacrifice fly to center field, with Mick Niebrugge scoring on an error on the play. The Big Blue added another run in the third when Sam Bushur grounded out to second base, bringing home Pete Britton.
 
North Park cut the margin to 2-1 in the bottom of the third on John Greenwood’s sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Joe Perona. Millikin responded in the fourth when Carder Reich drew a bases-loaded walk to score Leyton Ivers.
 
The Big Blue added a notable swing in the fifth, as Gage Reynolds drove an inside-the-park home run to right-center field to extend the lead to 4-1. Millikin followed with three more runs in the sixth, using Ty Cribbett’s RBI double, Reich’s sacrifice fly and Easton Steck’s RBI double to build a 7-1 advantage.
 
North Park scored its final run in the seventh inning on Vinnie Marvucic’s ground-rule double. Millikin then put the game out of reach in the eighth.
 
Niebrugge opened the scoring in the inning with an RBI single before Reich, Reynolds and Decker each drew bases-loaded walks. Britton followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Steck.