GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Josh Arevalo earned the win in seven innings on the mound, with nine strikeouts
Carol Stream, Ill. – The Wheaton baseball team defeated Aurora University 6-4 on Thursday night in the home opener of the 2014 season for the Thunder. Wheaton (7-4) will host St. Mary's University (Minn.) on Friday at 5 p.m. St. Mary's will take on Edgewood College at 2 p.m. to open Wheaton's three-team event this weekend. St. Mary's will face Edgewood at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Wheaton will host St. Mary's at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the event will conclude at 5 p.m. when the Thunder entertains Edgewood.
Wheaton topped the Spartans with six runs, on nine hits with no errors and Aurora plated four runs, on nine hits, with one error. Thunder sophomore
Josh Arevalo (3-0) earned the win in seven innings of work as he allowed one run. Arevalo scattered seven hits, with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Tom Bishop pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief as he allowed one run, on one hit, with three walks.
Andrew Bayer earned the save in 1-1/3 innings of relief as he allowed two runs, including one earned run, on one hit, with two walks and three strikeouts.
Collin Hart (0-1) took the loss for Aurora in six innings as the starter. Hart allowed two runs, on five hits. Ottavio Dattolo allowed three runs in 1/3 of an inning and Christian Smith gave up one run in 1-2/3 innings. Ryan Rybakowski and Zach Flores each had two hits for the Spartans.
Wheaton took a 1-0 lead in the in the bottom of the second as
John Jensen-Johnson hit a leadoff triple and scored in the next at bat on a sacrifice fly by
Kyle Mellinger. Aurora plated a run in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 1-1. The Thunder added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a RBI-single by Jensen Johnson to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.
The Thunder plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh. The seventh started with
Taylor Howe scoring on a bases-loaded wild pitch and then
Matt Schappell executed a well-placed sacrifice bunt that allowed
Johnny Peltz (PICTURED LEFT) to score the second run of the inning and a RBI-single by
Justin Swider brought
Josh Kimmel home to increase the Thunder lead 5-1.
Aurora added a run in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Wheaton lead to 5-2.
Kyle Mellinger, the leadoff hitter of the bottom of the eighth inning, was hit by a pitch. Mellinger stole second base in the next at bat and advanced to third thanks to an errant throw on the same pitch. Mellinger crossed home plate on a ground out by
Taylor Howe to give the Thunder a 6-2 lead. The Spartans scored twice in the top of the ninth inning, however, Bayer struck out three batters in the inning including for the final out to secure the Thunder win.
Peltz, the Thunder freshman right fielder, was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Jensen Johnson was 2-for-4, with a run and a RBI. Swider was 2-for-4, with a stolen base, a run and a RBI. Kimmel was 2-for-5, collecting two bunt singles, with a run scored.
