Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team split a conference doubleheader under windy conditions at Ruth Leedy Field against Carthage College on Friday afternoon. Carthage won the opener 5-2 and Wheaton picked up a 6-3 victory in the nightcap.
Wheaton won the second game 6-3 as the Thunder scored six runs, on 13 hits, with two errors and Carthage tallied three runs, on seven hits, with five errors.
Ashley Carter earned her second-consecutive win in four innings of work in the circle. Carter allowed two runs, on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Freshman
Maddy Whitmer faced one batter. Senior
Kelly Thornton earned the save in three innings of relief as she allowed one run, on three hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.
Janette Oh was 3-for-4, scoring twice.
Morgan Ryan and
Hannah Clark each had a 2-for-4 effort at plate. Thornton was 2-for-5, scoring twice with a RBI and
Ashley Carter was 2-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI.
The Thunder took a 2-0 lead with a pair of run in the top of the first inning as
Melissa Meiners hit a two-run double. Wheaton added two more runs in the top of the second inning as the hosts increased their lead to 4-0. Carter and Thornton each hit a RBI-single in the inning. The Lady Reds scored on run in the bottom of the second inning to trim Wheaton's lead to 4-1. Carthage added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Thunder advantage to 4-2.
Morgan Ryan drove in a run in the top of the sixth inning and
Claire Busch drove in a run as well to extend Wheaton's lead to 6-2. Carthage scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to account for the 6-3 final score in Wheaton's win.
Carthage defeated the Thunder 5-2 in the second game as the Lady Reds scored five runs, on six hits, with no errors and Wheaton tallied two runs, on eight hits with one error. Thunder starting pitcher
Kelly Thornton tossed seven innings. She allowed five runs, on six hits, with six walks and six strikeouts.
Thornton was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a run scored. Meiners was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Carthage scored one run in the top of the first inning to give the Lady Reds a 1-0 lead. The guests added three runs in the top of the fifth inning to extend Carthage's lead to 4-0.
Carthage increased its advantage to 5-0 with one run in the top of the seventh inning. Wheaton scored twice in the bottom of the seventh as Ryan drew a bases loaded walk to score Thornton and Meiners crossed the plate on a wild pitch to account for the 5-2 final score in Carthage's victory.
Wheaton travels to Augustana on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader against the Vikings. The Thunder host Kalamazoo in a non-conference matchup on Monday at 3:00 p.m.
