GAME STATS Tucson, Ariz. - The Thunder baseball concluded its annual spring trip on Saturday morning with a 6-5 loss to Cornell College. With the loss, Wheaton finishes the tip with a 4-3 record and a 5-4 mark overall. The Rams are now 1-1. Wheaton will return home for its next six games, hosting the first of consecutive weekend tournaments on Friday, March 16, when the Thunder face Saint Mary's (Minn.) for a 5 pm first pitch at Lee Pfund Stadium.

Wheaton scored its five runs on 10 hits with two errors. Cornell tallied six runs on 12 hits with one error. AJ Dhus earned the tough-luck loss for the Thunder, allowing one run in two innings of work.

Cornell's offense threatened early and often in the opening innings. The Rams put runners on the corners with one out in each of the first two innings but Thunder starter Alex Hanvey was able to side step trouble to escape the jam. Cornell finally broke through in the top of the third inning after loading the bases with no outs, the Rams took advantage of an errant pickoff throw and then added a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead. After a scoreless fourth, Cornell tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning to make it a 3-0 game.

Wheaton's offense came to life in the bottom of the fifth when Nick Mailman started a rally with a hit by pitch and came around to score on Ben Brittain's RBI groundout. Johnny Peltz followed with an RBI single to left to score Jesse Welch and cut the lead to 3-2 after five innings.

A quick offensive start to the top of the seventh added to Cornell's lead with the Rams taking advantage of a defensive miscue to manufacture two more runs and lead 5-2. Wheaton answered in the bottom of the seventh when Peltz drove a two-run single to left field and moved up to second base on the throw challenging Welch at the plate. Clay Morrison followed with a bouncing single up the middle to tie the game at five.

The game would remain tied until the top of the ninth inning when a Cornell single, stolen base and single drove in the go-ahead run to take a 6-5 lead. Wheaton looked like it had the answer again in the bottom of the ninth when Welch led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a single to right by Brittain. The tying run would remain 90 feet however, as Wheaton could not come up with the big hit and fell 6-5.

Peltz led the Thunder offense with three runs driven in and two hits. Brittain and Evan Ogden also tallied two hits.