GAME STATS Chicago, Ill. - A pair of early mistakes came back to haunt the Thunder baseball team as Wheaton fell at North Park (11-15, 6-5 CCIW) 4-3 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game set. The Thunder and Vikings will conclude their series with a 1 pm doubleheader on Saturday at Lee Pfund Stadium. The loss, Wheaton's sixth straight, dropped the Thunder to 13-15 overall and 4-9 in conference play.

Michael McCraith took a tough loss on the mound, allowing three runs, two earned, and scattering four hits while walking five and striking out 10 batters. Michael Pritts earned the win for the Vikings with 7.1 innings of three-run work, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out three.

North Park took the game's first lead in the bottom of the third inning on a leadoff double that came around to score when Wheaton failed to turn an inning-ending double play. Wheaton answered quickly to tie the score in the top of the fourth inning when Nick Mailman led off with a single and quickly stole second base. Ben Brittain followed two batters later with a single to center to plate Mailman and tie the game at 1-1.

A key Thunder error in the bottom of the fifth inning opened the door for two more Viking runs as the hosts took a 3-1 lead. Johnny Peltz cut the North Park lead in half with a towering solo home run to left field in the top of the seventh inning, but the Vikings manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh to lead 4-2.

Wheaton's best threat to flip the game script came in the top of the eighth inning when Graham Core singled to right with one out and moved around to third on an errant pickoff throw before scoring on a while pitch to pull Wheaton within a run. After a pitching change, Wheaton loaded the bases with two outs on an infield single by Joel Pierce and a walk to Brittain. Following another pitching change, the Vikings escaped the inning when Peltz flew out to left field. Nick Johnson kept the lead in tact by stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, but Wheaton could not rally in the ninth, falling 4-3.