GAME STATS 1 | GAME STATS 2 PICTURED ABOVE (L-R): Evan Rahn and Ryan Miller.

Game 1 Box

Game 2 Box

Fort Myers, Fla. – The Wheaton College baseball team capitalized on defensive miscues in game one but fell victim to them in game two to split a doubleheader with Haverford College on Monday. The Thunder (2-2) won the first game 14-6 while the Fords (1-3) won the second game 9-5.

A cloudless, cool morning started very well for Wheaton's offense. Haverford helped out by making critical errors on a double-play grounder and a dropped fly ball in the infield. The Thunder jumped on the mistakes and scored seven unearned runs in the opening frame. Trey Martin and Desmond Cato knocked in the first two runs. John Jensen-Johnson came through with a two-run single and Ryan Miller capped the inning with a two-run triple to left field.

The seven-run cushion was plenty for starting pitcher Evan Rahn. The Wheaton sophomore threw five effective innings to earn his first victory of the season. Rahn allowed four hits and two runs in the outing.

After the big first inning, the Thunder kept rolling by scoring in each of the following three frames. Justin Zeller led off the second inning by cranking the first pitch he saw over the right field fence. Drew Golz knocked in Taylor Howe with an RBI single through the left side in the third. In the fourth, Howe earned an RBI with a bases-loaded walk and Miller stroked a two-run single to center.

Haverford briefly rallied with a four-run sixth inning. But Wheaton put the game out of doubt with a two-run single by Cato in the seventh to clinch the 14-6 victory.

The Thunder's 14 runs came on only nine hits. Miller was the top performer with three hits and four RBI. Cato added two hits and three RBI.

Defense proved to be crucial to the outcome in game two as well. A pair of Wheaton errors in the first three frames led to four unearned runs. A wild pitch and a squeeze bunt plated two more runs to put the Fords up 6-0 in the fourth.

Wheaton got on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-run homer to left field by Justin Swider (PICTURED RIGHT). An RBI triple by Zeller knocked in Golz in the fifth.

However, Haverford kept control, pushing across three runs in the sixth on another squeeze bunt, an error and an RBI single to increase the lead to 9-3. Miller and Martin knocked RBI doubles in the sixth and seventh to account for the final 9-5 score.

Freshman lefty starter Miles Veth took the loss on the mound in his first collegiate appearance. Veth allowed 11 hits and nine unearned runs with four strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings.

The Thunder committed six errors in the game which led to all nine runs being unearned. Wheaton's offense totaled nine hits, with Zeller and Swider nabbing two hits each.

Wheaton returns to the diamond on Tuesday with a 2 PM (ET) game against Heidelberg University.