GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE

Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton baseball team split a doubleheader with North Central College on Saturday afternoon. The games were held at North Central's Zimmerman Stadium; however, Wheaton was the home team for both games of the twinbill – batting last in each game. Batting last paid off for the Thunder in the second game, as Wheaton won the nightcap 9-8 on a walk-off home run by sophomore Trey Martin, his third round-tripper of the game. The Cardinals (16-8/10-4 CCIW) won the first game 6-5.

Wheaton is now 13-19 on the season, with a 5-10 record in CCIW play. The Thunder will return to action on Wednesday when it hosts Benedictine on Wednesday April 27 at Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.

Wheaton was 9-8 victor in the second game with nine runs, on 13 hits, and one error, while the Cardinals scored eight runs, on 11 hits, with one error. Thunder starting pitcher Drew Golz worked six innings on the mound as he allowed seven runs, on eight hits, with two strikeouts. Phillip Tuttle pitched one inning of scoreless relief, without a hit allowed. Senior Steve Dennison (2-4) pitched the final two innings to earn the victory. Dennison allowed one unearned run, on three hits, with two strikeouts.

Martin was 4-for-5 at the plate with three home runs, including the game-winning walk off homer. He scored four runs in the game and also drove in four. Senior Danny Pyne was 2-for-3, with a walk and two runs scored.

North Central scored one run in the top of the first inning and added three more in the top of the second to take a 4-0 lead. Wheaton cut the Cardinals' lead to 4-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning as Martin hit a two-run home run to centerfield. Each team scored two runs in the third inning for 6-4 Cardinal advantage. Wheaton's runs in the inning were the result of a RBI-double by Ryan Miller and a sacrifice fly by Golz.

Both teams scored a run in their respective portions of the fourth inning for a 7-5 North Central lead, as Martin hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for the Thunder. The Thunder trimmed the Cardinals' lead to 7-6 when Pyne scored on a wild pitch, following his leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning. The 'Orange and Blue' tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth inning off of a RBI-double by Justin Zeller.

Wheaton took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when Justin Swider hit a RBI-double down the leftfield line to give the Thunder an 8-7 lead. The Cardinals responded with an unearned run in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 8-8. Dennison held North Central scoreless in the top of the ninth inning to setup Martin's dramatic walk-off home run on the opening at-bat of the bottom of the ninth to win the game 9-8. Martin's three-home run game marked the first time a Wheaton player has belted three round-trippers in a game since Ryan Miller accomplished the feat against Millikin on April 10, 2010.

North Central picked up a 6-5 win the opening game of the day as the Cardinals scored six runs, on nine hits, with two errors and Wheaton plated five runs, on seven hits, with one error. Thunder starting pitcher Evan Rahn (2-4) took the loss in seven innings of action. He allowed six runs, on eight hits, with six strikeouts. Dennison pitched two innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit, with a strikeout. Miller was 3-for-5 at the plate for the Thunder with a double. He drove in three runs in the game and stole a base.

North Central took a 1-0 lead with one run in the top of the first inning and increased its lead to 5-0 with four runs in the top of the third inning. Wheaton scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning on a RBI-double by Ryan Miller. North Central's lead bulged to 6-1 with a run in the top of the fourth inning, however, Wheaton responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Cardinals' lead to 6-4. Miller hit a two-run single in the inning and Brian Whartnaby added a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. Martin hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning to trim North Central's advantage to 6-5. Each team's pitching staff held the other team scoreless over the final four innings of the game for the final result of the 6-5 victory for the Cardinals.