PICTURED ABOVE: Senior first baseman Kyle Mellinger was 2-for-4 with a double.

Carol Stream, Ill. – The Thunder baseball team opened up its three-game series with Elmhurst College (15-11, 4-6 CCIW) on Friday night at Lee Pfund Stadium. The Blue Jays utilized a strong performance by starting pitcher Mike Rostine to pick up the 7-3 victory.

Wheaton is now 17-10 on the year, with a 6-4 record in CCIW play. The two teams will wrap up the three-game series on Saturday at with a noon doubleheader at Butterfield Park in Elmhurst. PLEASE NOTE: Saturday's doubleheader will start at noon, not 1:00 p.m. as originally posted on the Wheaton schedule.

Rostine (4-1) earned the win in nine innings for the Bluejays. He allowed three runs, two earned runs, on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. The Blue Jays scored seven runs, on 15 hits with no errors and Wheaton tallied three runs, on six hits with two errors.

Thunder starting pitcher Josh Arevalo (2-3) took the loss in 6-1/3 innings. The senior pitched well, scattering four total runs, including three earned runs. He allowed nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk. John Schmitz pitched 2-1/3 innings of relief, allowing three runs, on five hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. Josiah Longenecker pitcher 1/3 of an inning, allowing one hit, with one walk.

Senior first baseman Kyle Mellinger was the only Wheaton player to collect multiple hits as he was 2-for-4 at the plate with his ninth double of the year and he scored one run. Elmhurst catcher Austin MacMillan was 5-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.

Elmhurst scored first with one unearned run in the top of the second inning. Andrew Laucella hit a one-out single in the top of the second inning and advanced to this base on a J.D. Carpenter double to left centerfield. A sacrifice fly to deep center field by Josh Kimmel brought Laucella home and tied the game at 1-1.

The Bluejays scored twice in the top of the third inning to take a 3-1 lead on the hosts. In the top of the third inning Jacob Zeller drove in catcher Kyle Trivits, who as the leadoff batter was by a pitch, and scored on Trivits' bunt to cut the Elmhurst lead to 3-2 through three innings.

Elmhurst maintained its 3-2 lead through the sixth inning. The Bluejays added one run in the top of the seventh inning and the guests added two runs in the top of the eighth to increase the lead to 6-2. Elmhurst added another run in the top of the ninth inning to extend its lead to 7-2.

Wheaton added one run in the bottom of the ninth to account for the 7-3 final score. Mellinger hit a one-out single to left field in the final inning. He advanced to second base on an Elmhurst passed ball and scored on a RBI-single to left centerfield by pinch hitter Clay Morrison.