GAME STATS 1 | GAME STATS 2 St. Louis, Mo. – The Thunder baseball team split a pair of games in its final day of a three-game trip to St. Louis. Wheaton opened play on Saturday with a 4-2 victory against Wisconsin-Platteville. The host Bears of Washington-St. Louis defeated Wheaton 10-9 in 12 innings in the final game of the trip. Wheaton is 9-6 on the year and will travel to University of Chicago on Tuesday afternoon for a 3 PM non-conference game against the Maroons.

Wheaton topped the UW-Platteville Pioneers, 4-2 in the first game of the day. Wheaton scored four runs, on six hits, with one error and the Pioneers scored two runs, on seven hits, with two errors. Thunder senior pitcher Drew Golz (4-0) picked up the win in a complete game effort as he allowed two runs, on seven hits, with two strikeouts. Golz helped his own cause with a double, Ryan Miller hit a triple and Trey Martin added a home run as six different batters collected a hit. 

Wheaton scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, as Miller hit a leadoff triple to open the game and he scored on the next at-bat, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Golz. Two batters later, Martin hit a solo home run to left centerfield. The Pioneers scored a run in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-1 Thunder lead. Austin Driggers drove in a run in the top of the third inning to increase the Wheaton lead to 3-1.

Sophomore Desmond Cato was hit by a pitch to open the top of the sixth inning and he promptly stole second base. A RBI-single by sophomore infielder Justin Swider brought Cato home and extended Wheaton's lead to 4-1. UW-Platteville scored one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning to account for the final score of 4-2.

Washington rallied to defeat Wheaton 10-9 in 12 innings in the final game of the trip for the Thunder.  The Bears scored 10 runs, on 13 hits, with two errors and Wheaton scored nine runs, on 15 hits, with five errors. Sophomore Andrew Bayer started the game for the Thunder, as he pitched 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit with one strikeout and a walk. Phillip Tuttle pitched 2-2/3 innings of relief as he allowed six runs, three of which were earned. He allowed five hits, with four walks and three strikeouts. Freshman Casey Moll faced two batters, allowing two walks. Freshman Miles Veth pitched the final 7-1/3 innings of the game as he allowed two runs, scattering seven hits, with four strikeouts.

\Senior shortstop Ryan Miller was 3-for-4, with a walk and a run scored. Senior outfielder Drew Golz was 3-for-6, with two runs scored and a run driven in. Justin Zeller, Austin Driggers, Justin Swider and Alex MaLossi each had two hits, as Driggers hit a double and triple, while Zeller belted a home run.

Wheaton scored five runs in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Zeller hit a two-run homer and Driggers hit a RBI-triple to highlight the inning. Wheaton added three more runs in the top of the second inning as Driggers hit a two-run double and Golz had a RBI-single to increase Wheaton's lead to 8-0.

The Bears scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut Wheaton's lead to 8-3. Alex MaLossi hit a RBI-double in the top of the fifth inning to extend Wheaton's lead to 9-3. Wash U responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to trim the Thunder advantage to 9-8. The Bears tied the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh. The two teams then battled through four scoreless innings until the Bears scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.