PICTURED ABOVE: Katie Thornton earned two wins in complete game efforts on Thursday.

Naperville, Ill. – The Thunder softball team swept North Central College (15-13, 5-3 CCIW) in a CCIW doubleheader for the first time in program history on Thursday afternoon. The Thunder shut out the Cardinals with a 7-0 victory in game one and swept the hosts with an 8-0 shutout (six innings) in the second game.

Wheaton is now 23-9 on the season and 8-4 in CCIW play. The Thunder will wrap up CCIW play on Saturday with a conference doubleheader at Millikin.

Wheaton shut the Cardinals out in today's opener with a 7-0 win that saw the Thunder score seven runs, on seven hits with no errors and North Central tallied no runs, on just two hits with three errors.

Senior starting pitcher Katie Thornton earned the win in seven innings. She held the Cardinals scoreless, allowing just two hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. Senior infielder Christina Sandstedt hit a home run in the game and drove in a pair of runs. Hannah Clark (PICTURED LEFT) added a triple.

North Central starter Andrea Starr (9-8) took the loss in six innings as she allowed six runs, on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Jennifer Yager allowed a run in one inning of work, with two hits. Both Cardinals hits in the game were singles.

The two squads battled through three scoreless innings until Sandstedt hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning to give Wheaton a 1-0 lead. Wheaton extended its lead to 3-0 in the top of the second inning with two runs. A RBI-single by Megan Neuhaus in the inning drove in Kelly Thornton who reached early in the inning on a NCC error. Sandstedt drew a walk later in the inning with Newhaus at first base. Sandstedt stole second base and Newhaus scampered home on the play to increase Wheaton's lead to 3-0.

Wheaton added four runs in the top of the seventh inning to account for the 7-0 victory. Clark led off the inning and later scored on a two-run error by the Cardinals. Ellen Radandt added a RBI-single in the inning and Sandstedt drove in a run on a ground out.

Wheaton won the second game 8-0 behind six scoreless innings pitched by Thornton. Wheaton scored eight runs, on seven hits with no errors. North Central had no runs, on five hits with four errors. Thornton (17-5) earned the win in six innings as she allowed no runs, on five hits, with four strikeouts and no walks.

Clark and Alyssa Leonard each drove in two runs for the Thunder. Yergler (PICTURED LEFT) and Clark each hit triples and Leonard collected a double.

The two teams played three and a half scoreless innings until Wheaton tallied four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Clark and Yergler collected back-to-back triples in the fourth inning to aid Wheaton's cause Clark's triple drove in two runs and Yergler drove in a run. Emily Bonga also drove in a run in the inning. Wheaton scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game on the run-rule. Leonard drove in a pair of runs on a double to left field, Kelly Thornton added a RBI-single and Radandt drove in the game-ending run.

Today's sweep of the Cardinals kept Wheaton in the mix both for a spot in the upcoming CCIW Tournament (the top four teams make the tournament) and in the hunt for the CCIW Championship. Illinois Wesleyan has an 8-2 conference record atop the CCIW standings; Wheaton has an 8-4 record; North Central is 5-3 in league play; Carthage is 5-5; Augustana and North Park are both 4-6; Elmhurst and Millikin each have identical 2-6 records.

Note Worthy: With today's wins in the circle, Thornton established a new Wheaton single-season record for victories with 17 as she passed the 21-year-old record of 16 wins compiled by Amy Wallace in 1995…at 23 victories on the season, Wheaton is just one win shy of tying the school record for victories in a single-season – a mark (24) that was set last year…with two pitching appearances today, Thornton now has 100 career appearances in the circle, the first player in program history to reach the milestone…Yergler's triple in game two was her sixth of the season, a mark that is the third-highest in a single season in program history…with her round tripper in today's first game, Sandstedt (PICTURED RIGHT) now has seven home runs this year, tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in Wheaton history and just two homers shy of Trinity Pierce's school record of nine HR set in 2006…with two RBI today, Sandstedt now has 33 RBI this season, the seventh-highest single-season RBI total in team history.

Schedule Note: Wheaton's doubleheader against University of Chicago has been moved from April 26 to April 28. The Twinbill will still start at 3:00 p.m. at Ruth Leedy Field.