GAME 1 BOXSCORE

GAME 2 BOXSCORE

Chicago, Ill. – The Wheaton baseball team wrapped up its three-game series with North Park on Saturday in a doubleheader at the Vikings' Holmgren Athletic Complex. Wheaton won the first game 7-2, behind a strong outing from freshman starting pitcher Evan Rahn. North Park was a 9-7 victor in the nightcap.

Wheaton is now 14-22 on the year, with a 6-12 CCIW record. North Park, ranked 25th in this week's D3baseball.com Top-25, is now 27-8 overall and 12-5 in conference play. The Thunder will play a non-conference game at Aurora University on Monday night at 6:30 PM. Wheaton will conclude conference play next weekend with a three-game series against Elmhurst College.

Wheaton topped the Vikings 7-2 in today's first game as the Thunder scored seven runs, on 14 hits, with no errors and North Park plated two runs on five hits, with one error. Rahn (3-4) earned the win on the mound for the Thunder in eight innings to improve his record to 3-4 on the year. Rahn held North Park to two runs, on five hits, with two strikeouts and no walks. Steve Dennison pitched the final inning for Wheaton as he held North Park hitless, with one strikeout.

Junior Drew Golz was 3-for-5, with a triple and three runs scored for the Thunder. Junior centerfielder Justin Zeller was 3-for-5 with two RBI and #Austin Driggers was 2-for-5, with two RBI.

Wheaton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Golz hit a two-out triple to right field and he scored on a single by Zeller on the next at-bat. The Thunder lead increased to 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning when Golz hit a leadoff single and scored on a Zeller RBI.

The Thunder took control of the game with four runs in the top of the fifth inning. The inning included a two-run single by Danny Pyne, a RBI-double by Ryan Miller and a RBI-single by Driggers. North Park plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to trim the Thunder lead to 6-2. Wheaton added a run in the top of the ninth inning on a RBI-single by Austin Driggers to account for the final score of 7-2.

North Park won the second game 9-7 as the Vikings scored nine runs, on 12 hits, with one error and Wheaton plated seven runs, on nine hits, with one error. Golz (3-4) was the Thunder starting pitcher and took the loss in 6-1/3 innings. He allowed nine runs, eight of which were earned on 10 hits. Dennison pitched 1-2/3 innings of relief as he held the Vikings scoreless, on two hits.

Golz was 2-for-5 at the plate with a home run and a double as he scored twice and drove in two runs. Ryan Miller scored a pair of runs as he was 2-for-5, with a double.

North Park took a 2-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Wheaton tied the game at 2-2 thanks to a two-run home by Golz in the top of the third inning. The Vikings responded with four runs in the bottom of the third inning to regain the lead at 6-2. Wheaton scored a run in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a RBI-single from Desmond Cato and added another run in the top of the fifth inning as Miller hit a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pyne to cut the Vikings lead to 6-4. North Park added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the hosts a 7-4 advantage.

A two-run double by Driggers in the top of the seventh inning cut the Vikings' lead to 7-6. North Park regained a three-run lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Vikings a 9-6 lead. Golz hit a one-out double in the top of the ninth inning and he scored on the next at bat to cut the North Park lead to 9-7, however, the Vikings stymied the Thunder rally to earn the 9-7 victory.