GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Ryan Miller (PICTURED LEFT) and Drew Golz (PICTURED RIGHT).

BOXSCORE

Schaumburg, Ill. - The Wheaton baseball team opened conference play with a 14-10 loss to Illinois Wesleyan at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg on Friday. Wheaton is now 10-7 on the season, with a 0-1 mark in conference play. The Titans improve to 11-4, with a 1-0 CCIW record. The same two teams will face each other for a doubleheader in Bloomington on Saturday afternoon at 1 PM. Live video will be available courtesy of Illinois Wesleyan at this link, with live in-game statistics at this link.

The Titans scored 14 runs, on 14 hits, with one error tonight and Wheaton plated 10 runs, on 13 hits, with one error. Thunder starting pitcher Evan Rahn worked 6-1/3 innings, as he allowed nine runs, with eight earned runs, on 10 hits. Phillip Tuttle (0-1) took the loss in one inning of relief as he allowed four runs, on two hits, with two walks. Senior reliever Matt MaMalossi pitched 1-2/3 innings of relief as he allowed one run, on two hits, with two strikeouts.

Senior outfielder Drew Golz was 3-for-4, with a pair of doubles as he drove in one run and scored three times. Catcher Taylor Howe was 2-for-3, with a run scored and a RBI. Senior Ryan Miller went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, as he scored two runs and had a RBI. Austin Driggers was 2-for-5, with three RBI and Justin Zeller was 2-for-5, with a pair of doubles as he drove in two runs.

The Titans scored three runs in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Wheaton responded with a pair of runs in the bottom first thanks to a two-run double by Zeller. Illinois Wesleyan scored one run in the top of the second inning, however Wheaton responded with seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 9-4 lead. Driggers hit a three-run single in the inning as Miller and John Jensen-Johnson each added a RBI-double and Golz and Howe each hit a run-scoring single.

The Titans trimmed the Wheaton lead to 9-5 with one run in the top of the third inning. Golz led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double down the leftfield line and two batters later he scored on a sacrifice fly by Trey Martin to increase the Wheaton lead to 10-5. The Titans cut the Thunder lead to 10-9 with four runs in the top of the seventh inning. Illinois Wesleyan regained the lead with five runs in the top of the eighth inning to account for the 14-10 final score.