Millikin University announced on April 26 that its baseball team clinched the 2026 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Regular Season Championship after defeating North Park University 15-3 at Workman Family Baseball Field in Decatur, Illinois.
The Big Blue earned a share of the title following a doubleheader sweep against North Park on Saturday. Millikin finished its CCIW schedule with a record of 15-5, securing the outright championship and the right to host the CCIW Tournament from May 6 to May 8. The team will enter the tournament as the number one seed and receive a first-round bye, with their first game scheduled for Thursday, May 7. Most other teams in the conference still have games remaining to finalize tournament seeding.
During Sunday’s game, Millikin led North Park by one run midway through the fourth inning before extending their lead with four runs each in both the fourth and fifth innings, followed by three more in the sixth. Ty Cribbett led Millikin’s offense by going five-for-five at bat with a triple, scoring four runs and driving in four more. Carder Riech contributed four hits including two doubles and collected six runs batted in. Mick Niebrugge added two hits and three RBI while Leyton Ivers had two hits and scored three times.
Freshman pitcher Bradyn Saling improved his season record to nine wins without a loss after pitching seven innings, allowing three runs while striking out three batters. Overall, Millikin tallied sixteen hits compared to six for North Park; North Park also committed six errors during the game.
Rylan Li drove in two runs for North Park during Sunday’s contest.
