PICTURED ABOVE: Senior designated hitter was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks for the Thunder on Thursday.

Carol Stream, Ill. - The Wheaton baseball team opened up its second-consecutive round-robin tournament on Thursday as the Thunder faced Concordia-Moorhead in the final game of the day. The Cobbers (7-6) rallied from a 5-1 deficit to earn the 8-6 victory over the Thunder (7-6).

The tournament concludes on Friday with three games. Concordia-Moorhead plays Dominican at 11:00 a.m., followed by Wheaton and Dominican at 2:00 p.m. and the tournament concludes at 5:00 p.m. as Wheaton entertains Beloit.

Concordia earned the 8-6 victory against Wheaton in today's matchup as the Cobbers scored eight runs, on 16 hits, with no errors and Wheaton tallied six runs, on 10 hits, committing two errors. Thunder starting pitcher Michael McCraith allowed five runs, including four earned runs in six innings. The junior scattered eight hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. Senior reliever Nick Johnson (1-1) allowed two runs, on four hits, with one strikeout and no walks in one inning of work. Freshman AJ Dhus pitched two innings of relief. Thus allowed one run, on four hits, with one walk and one strikeout.

Senior designated hitter Seth Meyer was 2-for-2 at the plate, with two walks. Meyer hit a double and drove in one run.  Junior third baseman Ben Brittain was 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk. Brittain hit a double and scored a run. Infielder Jesse Welch had a 2-for-5 effort at the plate with a RBI. Clay Morrison hit a triple, scoring twice with two runs driven in. Evan Ogden recorded a pinch hit double for the hosts.

Wheaton gained an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Ben Brittain hit a two-out double and Johnny Peltz drew a walk to put runners at first and second base. Morrison tripled to center field to bring Britain and Peltz home. Joel Pierce added a single that drove Morrison home to give Wheaton a 3-0 advantage. Concordia-Moorhead scored one run in the top of the second inning to trim the Thunder lead to 3-1.

Meyer hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the third inning to drive Morrison home, giving Wheaton a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Nick Mailman drew a two-out walk and stole second and then third on successive opportunities during Welch's at bat. Welch capitalized with a RBI-single to left field that brought Mailman home for extend the Thunder lead to 5-1.

The Cobbers trimmed Wheaton's lead to 5-3 on a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning. Concordia-Moorhead scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to take its first lead of the game, a 7-5 advantage for the guests. The Cobbers added an additional run in the top of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 8-5. Ogden hit a RBI-double down the right field line to cut the guests' lead to 8-6, however, the Cobbers closed the door on Wheaton to earn the 8-6 victory.