The Millikin University Softball team won the 2017 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Regular Season Championship following a 12-4 win over Carthage College in the second game of a doubleheader on April 23.
The Big Blue earned the right to host the CCIW Tournament on May 5-6. The conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament goes to the winner of the CCIW Tournament. Millikin finished the regular season at 30-10 overall and a 14-2 conference record.
Millikin will host the four team double elimination tournament at the Workman Family Softball Field where the Big Blue went 14-0 in the team's first season in its new home. Millikin is the number one seed in the tournament and will play its first game on Friday, May 5, at 2 p.m. against the fourth seeded team.
With their comeback win on April 23, Millikin finished two games above Carthage to win its first conference title since 2011.
Gracie Brookens, a first-year human services major from Blue Mound, Ill., and Cathy Lebryk, a junior athletic training major from Munster, Ind., ended the regular season with nearly identical pitching lines. Brookens went 13-5 with a 1.89 ERA and Lebryk finished 14-4 with a 2.00 ERA. Kailey Lyons, a first-year psychology major from Lombard, Ill., and the CCIW batting average leader, went 3 of 6 on the day against Carthage.
