GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE (L-R): Ryan Miler and Drew Golz had three hits each on Tuesday.

Box Score

Fort Myers, Fla. – The Wheaton College baseball team surrendered an early lead and then forced extra innings before losing to Heidelberg University 9-8 in 10 innings on Tuesday.

The Thunder dropped to 2-3 and the Student Princes evened its record at 2-2.

Wheaton threatened from the get-go. A single and two walks loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning. But the Thunder could not drive in a run as Heidelberg escaped the jam. The “Orange and Blue” broke back in the second inning thanks to a throwing error that scored Justin Swider.

The fourth inning was when Wheaton grabbed control and plated four runs. With the bases loaded once again, Drew Golz came through with an RBI single to left field. The ball was misplayed and cleared the bases for three total runs. Trey Martin came up a batter later and smacked an RBI double to left center to score Golz.

However, the lead was short lived. Heidelberg scored five runs in its half of the fourth. Two hits and a walk set up the opportunities and the Student Princes cashed in with a pair of singles and a bases-loaded walk.

Heidelberg took a 6-5 lead the next inning. Wheaton responded in the eighth with a slicing RBI double to the left field corner by Justin Zeller.

The Student Princes came back with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth and pushed the Thunder to its final out in the ninth, down 8-6. With one runner on, Taylor Howe coaxed a walk and John Jensen-Johnson hit a grounder that bounced off the shortstop and drove in a run. Ryan Miller immediately followed with a single through the right side that plated the tying run and took the game to extras.

The bottom of the 10th is where the game ended, as Heidelberg put three runners on before stroking a hit to the left field wall that drove in the winning run.

Matt MaLossi (0-1) took the loss in working the final 1-2/3 innings. Phillip Tuttle (PICTURED RIGHT) put up a strong effort in middle relief, tossing 4-1/3 innings with one earned run on six hits.

The Thunder tallied 14 hits compared to 11 by the Student Princes. Miller, Golz and Swider all went 3-for-5 on the day. Wheaton's defense committed three errors and Heidelberg had two.

Wheaton will next take on Fredonia State University in a doubleheader at 9 AM (ET) on Thursday.