Carol Stream, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder baseball team hosted the final day of its Wheaton Invitational tournament on Saturday at Lee Pfund Stadium. The Thunder defeated St. Mary's (Minn.) 12-5 in Wheaton's opening game of the day. No. 2 ranked Concordia-Chicago rallied late in the final game of the day to defeat Wheaton 10-5. Wheaton (10-3) opens CCIW play on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. when Illinois Wesleyan visits Lee Pfund Stadium.
 
The Thunder rallied to defeat St. Mary's (Minn.) 12-5 in Wheaton's first game on Saturday. The Thunder scored 12 runs, on 18 hits, with two errors and the Cardinals tallied five runs on nine hits with one error. Thunder starting pitcher Alex Hanvey allowed four runs in one inning, on four hits with one strikeout. Freshman David Solfelt (2-0) worked five innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. Solfelt (PICTURED LEFT) scattered two hits, with five strikeouts and two walks. Luke Kram picked up the save in three innings of scoreless relief. He held the Cardinals to one hit, with one strikeout and two walks.

Evan Ogden was 4-for-5, with four RBI and three runs scored. The senior hit his second home run of the season. Senior Ben Brittain was 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Brittain hit a pair of doubles in the game. Brett Albaugh was 4-for-5 with two doubles as he scored three times and drove in one run. AJ Dhus was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Joel Pierce had two hits, with two runs scored and a RBI.
 
Saint Mary's gained an early 4-0 lead with four runs in the top of the first inning. Wheaton responded with one run in the bottom of the second inning as Brittain led off with a single and promptly stole second base. He scored on a single through the infield by Dhus.

Wheaton gained a 5-4 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Albaugh hit a one-out triple and he scored on a single by Joel Pierce. Brittain doubled to center field to drive Pierce home. Dhus hit a RBI-single and Brittain scored on a SMU fielding error. Wheaton extended its lead to 8-4 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a three-run home run by Ogden.

Wheaton extended its lead to 10-4 with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Albaugh hit a RBI-double in the inning and Ogden drove him home with a RBI-single. The Cardinals scored a run in the top of the seventh inning to trim Wheaton's lead to 10-5. The Thunder added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to account for the 12-5 final score. Brittain hit a two-run double in the inning to account for Wheaton's final two runs.

Second-ranked Concordia-Chicago rallied to defeat Wheaton 10-5 in the nightcap. The Cougars scored 10 runs, on 10 hits, with one error and Wheaton tallied five runs, on 10 hits, with three errors. Thunder starting pitcher Michael McCraith pitched six innings tonight, allowing three runs, including two earned runs. McCraith scattered five hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks. Caleb Selk faced three batters in relief, allowing two runs, on one hit with two walks. Sam Arnold tossed 1/3 of an inning of relief as he allowed two runs, on one hit, with one walk. Jacob Garrity pitched 2-2/3 innings of relief as he allowed three runs, including two earned runs. Garrity scattered three hits, with three walks and three strikeouts.

Ogden was 2-for-3 with two walks and one run scored. Albaugh had a 2-for-4 effort with two RBI and a run scored. Pierce hit a home run for the Thunder in the contest.

Wheaton jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Pierce's two-run homer in the first sparked things for the Thunder. Wheaton added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a two-run single by Albaugh that gave Wheaton a 4-0 lead. The Thunder extended the lead to 5-0 in the third inning thanks to a RBI-single by Matthias Haggerty.

The Cougars scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Thunder lead to 5-1. Concordia-Chicago scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 9-5 lead on the Thunder. The Cougars added a run in the top of the ninth inning to account for the 10-5 final score.