PICTURED ABOVE: Nick Mailman drove in three runs and scored three runs in his collegiate dbut on Friday.

Danville, Ky. - The Wheaton Thunder baseball team opened its 2016 season on Friday afternoon under sunny conditions with a doubleheader against Spalding University. Also playing its season opener, the Eagles broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the eighth inning of game one to take the lidlifter 6-3. Wheaton rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn a 10-9 walkoff victory in the nightcap. Wheaton will conclude its weekend schedule with a 2:30 PM (EST) game against Baldwin Wallace in Louisville on Saturday.

Wheaton scored three runs on nine hits with two errors in the opener and went for 10 runs on nine hits and three errors in the nightcap. Spalding scored six runs on five hits with one error in game one and nine runs on 11 hits and two errors in game two.

Spalding took a 1-0 lead early in game one but Wheaton responded with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. John McKenna (PICTURED RIGHT) tied the score with a squeeze bunt and Nick Mailman gave Wheaton the lead with a second squeeze later in the inning. A bases loaded walk to Josh Kimmel provided Wheaton's third run. The Eagles responded to tie the score with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The game would remain tied until the Eagles scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 6-3 lead. Wheaton would load the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth but could not get a run home.

The Eagles' momentum led to 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning but Thunder starter Daniel Bayer settled in and only allowed one more run on three hits over his final six innings of work. Wheaton answered to the tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kyle Mellinger's single plated Mailman.

McKenna started a fifth inning rally with a one-out single up the middle that started a string of eight straight hitters reaching base. Mailman broke the tie with a two-run single to center and came around to score two batters later on Ben Brittain's double down the right field line. Jacob Zeller made it 5-1 when he sprinted home on a fielder's choice off the bat of Mellinger. Andrew Laucella would drive in Brittain with a single and Clay Morrison capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.

Spalding would not go quietly and pushed across a run in the top of the sixth inning before taking advantage of six Wheaton free passes (three walks and three hit by pitch) in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score at 7-7. After the Thunder left a runner on second in the bottom of the eighth, the Eagles retook the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth to lead 9-7.

Mailman led off the bottom of the ninth with a single followed by an error that allowed Zeller to reach. Brittain battled for nine pitches before singled up the middle to plate Mailman and cut the score to 9-8. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position and a balk allowed Zeller to score the tying run. Two batters later, pinch hitter Josh Kimmel laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that allowed Brittain to score the game-winning run for the 10-9 victory.

Daniel Bayer earned a tough no decision, allowing only two runs on six hits over seven innings. Nick Johnson earned the win in 1.1 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, and striking out two.

Wheaton will finish the weekend on Saturday with a 2:30 PM (EST) matchup against #18-ranked Baldwin Wallace.