Rock Island, Ill. - The Thunder baseball team opened its three-game weekend series on Friday night with a 12-8 loss at Augustana. Wheaton's undoing came with a season-high five errors as well as several costly baserunning mistakes. Both teams enter Saturday's doubleheader at Lee Pfund Stadium with an overall record of 15-8 and a 4-2 mark in conference play.

Wheaton scored eight runs on 11 hits with its five defensive miscues. The Vikings plated 12 runs on 15 hits with three errors. Josh Arevalo took the loss for the Thunder, allowing seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits in 3.2 innings of work.

A pair of baserunning blunders cost the Thunder a chance to take the lead in the top of the first inning and the Vikings capitalized with a solo home run in the bottom of the first to take the game's first lead. Wheaton rallied back with a three-run third inning behind a two-run single by Clay Morrison and a later error allowed Kyle Mellinger to score the third run of the inning.

The Vikings wasted no time reclaiming the lead with two Thunder errors opening the door for a five-run inning that put Augustana ahead 6-3. The Vikings pushed another run across in teh bottom of the fourth and answered Brett Albaugh's RBI single in the top of the fifth inning with a run in the home half of the inning.

Two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings pushed the game out of reach despite a three-run Thunder rally in the top of the ninth inning.

Clay Morrison led the Thunder offense with three runs batted in. Each of Wheaton's top three hitters in the lineup, Nick Mailman, Jacob Zeller and Ben Brittain, recorded two hits apiece.

Wheaton and Augustana will conclude their three-game series on Saturday with a 1 pm doubleheader at Lee Pfund Stadium.