Naperville, Ill. (4/27) – The Thunder baseball team opened its three game series with North Central on Friday in an 11-7 loss at the Cardinals' Zimmerman Stadium. Wheaton (9-19-1/2-13) will host the Cardinals (13-19/6-10) on Saturday in a 1 PM doubleheader at Wheaton's Legion Field.
North Central took an early 5-0 lead with five runs in the bottom of the first inning on Friday. Wheaton cut the hosts' lead to 5-3 with three runs in the top of the second inning. Senior Matt Price led off the second with a single through the left side of the infield and he advanced to third two batters later on a double to right centerfield by freshman Mike Bravo. Junior Matt Bradley belted a double to bring in both runners and Bradley would later score on a wild pitch. North Central scored a run in the bottom of the third inning and added two more in the fourth to increase its lead to 8-3.
Thunder freshman Brian Kolb hit a leadoff single to open the top of the sixth inning and he scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of junior Dan Falvey as Wheaton cut the North Central lead to 8-4. The guests added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning, as North Central saw its lead dwindle to 8-7. Wheaton opened its half of the seventh inning with a single by Matt Bradley and a double to centerfield by David Niehls. Bradley crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Nick Turner and Luke Munch drew a walk. Josh Baker smacked a single to centerfield to drive in Niehls and then Munch scored on a North Central wild pitch. The Cardinals earned an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh and added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to account to the 11-7 final score.
Niehls was 2-for-4, with two doubles and a run scored. Matt Bradley had a 2-for-4 effort, with two runs scored and a double. Baker went 2-for-5, with a run scored. Munch was 1-for-3, with two walks, a double and a run. Matt Price 1-for-3, with a walk and a run scored.
Matt Price (2-5) took the loss as the Thunder starting pitcher, with seven innings on the mound. Price allowed nine runs, with eight earned runs, on 13 hits, with five strikeouts and four walks. Freshman John Little allowed to unearned runs, with a hit and a walk in relief. Sophomore Brandon Bradley pitched one inning of relief, allowing no runs, on one hits, with two strikeouts
