GAME STATS 1 | GAME STATS 2 PICTURED ABOVE: Josh Kimmel went 5-10 with three doubles and three runs scored in Wheaton's season-opening doubleheader on Friday.

Jackson, Miss. - The Thunder baseball team opened its 2015 campaign on Friday afternoon by participating in the Millsaps/Rhodes Classic. Wheaton opened action with a 10-6 loss to Rhodes Classic before falling 6-2 to #8-ranked Webster University in the nightcap. The games were originally scheduled to be played in Memphis, Tennessee, but severe winter weather in the Memphis area forced the games to be moved south. Wheaton will wrap up the weekend on Saturday morning with a 10 AM game against Southwestern University.

Wheaton tallied six runs on 11 hits with three errors in the opener while Rhodes (5-2) scored 10 runs on 14 hits with one error. In the nightcap, Wheaton scored two runs on two runs on six hits with two errors. The Gorloks (1-0) tallied six runs on eight hits with one error.

A slow start in the opener proved to be too much for the Thunder to overtime as Wheaton fell behind Rhodes 5-0 after the first two innings. Wheaton rallied in the top of the third with a big inning to cut the Lynx lead to 5-4. Josh Kimmel led off the inning with a double and reached third after a Matt Krause walk and a deep fly out by Johnny Peltz. Kimmel scored Wheaton's first run on a double steal with Krause taking second base. Krause came around to score on a hit and run RBI by Tyler Sigler that moved Peter Newman to third base. Sigler stole second base and scored behind Newman on a two-run single by JD Carpenter.

Rhodes answered with one run in the bottom of the third and another in the bottom of the fifth to a 7-4 lead. Another leadoff double by Kimmel led to another Thunder run in the top of the sixth when Krause plated the Thunder center fielder with a single. Rhodes extended its lead with two runs in the sixth and another in the eighth to take a 10-6 lead. Wheaton loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and pushed one run across on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of John McKenna that plated Peter Newman to account for the final score of 10-7.

The first inning proved fatal for the Thunder in the nightcap as the Gorloks struck for four runs including a three-run home run and added another run in the second inning to take an early 5-0 lead. Wheaton got on the board in the top of the sixth inning with Kyle Mellinger scored on a caught stealing. Webster answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-1 lead. Wheaton loaded the bases with no outs and cut into the deficit with an RBI single by Peltz (PICTURED RIGHT) to score Kimmel. Webster was able to close the inning and close out the 6-2 win.

Josh Kimmel went 5-10 in the doubleheader with three doubles and three runs scored. Peter Newman went 4-7 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Matt Krause stole three bases on the day.

Wheaton closes the weekend with a 10 AM matchup with the Southwestern University Pirates.