PICTURED ABOVE: Maddy Bonetto was 6-for-8 in Saturday's doubleheader

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team split a CCIW doubleheader with Augustana College on Saturday afternoon at Ruth Leedy Field. Wheaton won the finale of today's twinbill 6-5, holding off an Augustana rally. The Vikings won today's opener 9-8.

Wheaton topped the Vikings 6-5 in today's nightcap as the Thunder scored six runs, on 13 hits, with one error and the Vikings tallied five runs, on 12 hits, with no errors. Kendall Kehres (PICTURED LEFT) earned her seventh win of the season, pitching all seven innings. The senior allowed five runs, on 12 hits, with one strikeout.

Melody Rodriguez was 3-for-3 at the plate in the win. Maddy Bonetto was 3-for-4 with a RBI and Kelly Thornton was 2-for-4, scoring one run. Ali Kent was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.

Wheaton took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning thanks to a RBI-double by Beka Behrens. Bonetto tallied a RBI-single in the top of the third inning to increase Wheaton's lead to 3-0. The Vikings scored twice in the bottom of the third to trim Wheaton's lead to 3-2.

Morgan Ryan drove in a pair of runs on a two-run single in the top of the sixth inning and Abby Hancock, a pinch runner for Ryan, scored on a wild pitch as those three runs extended Wheaton's lead to 6-2. The Vikings rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Wheaton got out of the jam with a 6-5 lead. Kehres held the Vikings to just one hit in the bottom of the seventh as Wheaton earned the 6-5 victory.

The Vikings earned a 9-8 victory in the opener. Augustana scored nine runs, on 16 hits, with three errors and the Thunder tallied eight runs, on 11 hits, with zero errors. Thornton started the game in the circle, allowing seven runs, on 10 hits. Maddy Whitmer pitched 2-2/3 innings of relief, allowing two runs, on six hits.

Thornton (PICTURED RIGHT) was 3-for-4, with four RBI and three runs scored in the opener. She hit a home run and added her 17^th double of the season. Thornton tied Lesley Guenard (2011) for the program's single-season doubles record at 17. Maddy Bonetto was 3-for-4 with a RBI and Megan Neuhaus had a 3-for-5 effort with two runs and a RBI.

Thornton belted a two-run home run over the fence in center field in the bottom of the third inning to give Wheaton a 2-0 lead. The Vikings responded with nine runs in the top of the fourth inning to give the guests a 9-2 lead.

Thornton drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth inning and scored on an Augustana error to cut the Vikings' advantage to 9-4. Wheaton scored four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Augustana lead to 9-8. RBI-singles by Bonetto and Thornton were key in the inning and Neuhaus drove in a run on a groundout. Augustana kept Wheaton off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the Vikings' win.

Wheaton closes out its CCIW schedule on Monday with a league matchup against Carthage at Ruth Leedy Field. Monday's doubleheader begins at 3:00 p.m.