PICTURED ABOVE: Lyndsey Pritchard was 5-for-8 with a home run and five RBI.

Rock Island, Ill. – The Thunder softball team earned a pair of critical CCIW wins at #22-ranked Augustana (20-11, 4-6 CCIW) on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton defeated the Vikings 12-1 in the opener and the Thunder rallied with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the second game 9-8.

The Thunder sweep of the Vikings marks the first time that Wheaton has swept the Augustana softball program in a doubleheader since 1995. Wheaton is now 17-12 overall and 7-1 in CCIW play. The Thunder currently sits in first place atop the CCIW standings at 7-1, followed by North Central at 8-2; Illinois Wesleyan is third at 4-2. Wheaton will host Elmhurst in a key CCIW twinbill on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

Wheaton defeated the Vikings 12-1 in today's first game as the Thunder scored 12 runs, on 12 hits with one error and Augustana had one run, on seven hits, with one error. Katie Thornton (10-7) earned the win in four scoreless innings as she held the Vikings to four hits and struck out five batters. Abby Butler pitched two innings of relief as she allowed one run, on three hits, with one strikeout.

Alyssa Leonard (PICTURED LEFT) was 3-for-4 with a double as she scored three runs and a RBI. Emily Bonga was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Christina Sandstedt was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Katie Thornton was 2-for-4 with a double as she drove in three runs. Lyndsey Pritchard was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a RBI.

Wheaton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Leonard hit a double and later scored in the inning on a Viking error. The Thunder lead increased to 2-0 when Wheaton added a run in the top of the fourth inning on a RBI-single by Sandstedt. The Thunder broke the game open with four runs in the top of the fifth inning, highlighted by two-run double for Thornton. Leonard also hit a RBI-double in the inning and Bonga belted a RBI-single in the fifth inning. Augustana scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 6-1 Wheaton lead. The Thunder added six more runs in the top of the sixth inning to account for the 12-1 final score. Sandstedt hit a RBI-double in the sixth inning to help the Thunder outburst.

Wheaton earned a 9-8 win in the nightcap as the Thunder scored nine runs, on 11 hits, with one error and Augustana tallied eight runs, on 12 hits, with three errors. Thornton pitched 4-1/3 innings, allowing six runs, including five earned runs, on seven hits. Butler (7-1) pitched 2-2/3 innings as she allowed two runs, on five hits.

Emily Bonga (PICTURED RIGHT) hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to drive in three runs, including herself as the game-winning run. Pritchard was 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored. Thornton was 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Leonard was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

Wheaton scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead as Thornton hit a RBI-single in the inning. The Vikings trimmed Wheaton's lead to 2-1 as the hosts scored a run in the top of the third inning. The Thunder increased its lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning as Sandstedt and Pritchard each hit RBI-singles in the third.

Augustana responded with two runs in the top of the fourth to cut Wheaton's lead to 4-3 and the Vikings added three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead. A two-run home run by Wheaton's Pritchard in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at 6-6. The Vikings responded with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to regain the lead at 8-6.

In the bottom of the seventh inning Thornton hit a one-out single to start the eventual Wheaton rally. Pritchard followed in the next at-bat with a single to put runners at first and second base. Bonga blasted the game-winning three-run home run to give the Thunder the dramatic victory.