GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Shortstop Kyle Mellinger (LEFT) was 3-for-4 at the plate and Matt Schappell (RIGHT) was 2-for-4 with a RBI.
Carol Stream, Ill. – The Wheaton baseball team faced Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday in the CCIW opener for both teams. The Titans emerged with a 4-2 win in the first game of the scheduled three-game series between the two teams. The game, originally scheduled to be played in Bloomington, was re-scheduled for Lee Pfund Stadium with the Titans serving as the home team on the scoreboard. Illinois Wesleyan (8-3/1-0 CCIW) and the Thunder (4-11/0-1) will play a doubleheader on Saturday at noon at Pfund Stadium.
Illinois Wesleyan earned the win with four runs, on nine hits, with two errors and Wheaton plated two runs, with 10 hits and two errors. Thunder starting pitcher
Evan Rahn (1-3) took the loss. Rahn (PICTURED LEFT) allowed four runs, including three earned runs, on nine hits, with four strikeouts and one walk. IWU starter Matt Hart (2-1) earned the victory, allowing two runs, on 10 hits, with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Thunder shortstop
Kyle Mellinger was 3-for-4 at the plated with a double to lead the Thunder offense. Second baseman
Matt Schappell was 2-for-4 with a RBI and junior
Justin Swider was 2-for-4 with a run driven in. Freshman Michael Kauffman hit a double and scored a run for the Thunder.
Wheaton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as
Desmond Cato hit a leadoff single into centerfield. Mellinger followed with a single and Swider brought Cato home with a RBI-single through the left side of the infield. Wheaton extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning as Kauffman hit a leadoff double. Kauffman scored three batters later on a RBI-single by Schappell.
The Titans cut the Thunder lead to 2-1 with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Illinois Wesleyan loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Titans capitalized when Jonathan Erickson hit a three-run triple down the right field line to plate all three base runners and give IWU the 4-2 lead that would become the final score.
