Carol Stream, Ill. - With the wind howling in and offense hard to come by, an outstanding pitching performance and a late rally book-ended Wheaton's doubleheader sweep of Augustana on Friday afternoon at Lee Pfund Stadium. Michael McCraith threw his second straight complete game in Wheaton's 1-0 victory in game one of the doubleheader before the Thunder rallied for a 4-3 victory in the night cap. Augustana entered the day riding a ten-game winning streak with a two-game lead in the CCIW standings before falling to 22-7-1 overall and 11-3 in the CCIW. Wheaton improves to 20-10 overall and 10-7 in the CCIW. The Thunder will go for the series sweep on Saturday afternoon with a 1 pm first pitch in Moline.

Michael McCraith was the headliner in Wheaton's game one victory. After Wheaton stranded a runner at third in the bottom of the first inning, McCraith surrendered a leadoff double in the top of the second inning but emphatically set down the next three batters, beginning a streak of 15 consecutive batters set down by the Thunder ace.

Wheaton gave provided all the offense McCraith would need in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brett Albaugh walked and moved to third on a double by Jesse Welch. After a Clay Morrison walk to load the bases, Sam Reichert followed with a sacrifice fly to right field plating Albaugh with what would be the game's only run.

Augustana was able to get their second hit of the game with a leadoff single to start the the seventh inning but McCraith once again slammed the door, retiring the next nine batters he faced including four strikeouts to finish off his second career shutout and move to 6-1 on the season.

Wheaton struck first again in game two when Nick Mailman led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, stole second, and came in to score on a two-out single by Welch. The Vikings found their first runs of the day in the top of the third inning with a two-out, two-run double to left field, putting them ahead 2-1. Another double in the top of the fourth inning pushed the lead to 3-1, but the Thunder worked out of further danger when catcher Jacob Garrity picked off a runner at third base to end the inning.

Cale Lewis led off the top of the fourth inning with a single and quickly moved to third on a double by Caleb Grotelueschen. Jacob Garrity followed with a single through the left side scoring Lewis and putting runners on the corners with no one out. Delving deeper into their bullpen, the Vikings were able to get a double play ball and a groundout to avoid further harm and end the inning while still leading 3-2.

Sam Arnold settled down after the fourth inning, hold the Vikings scoreless over the the last three of his seven innings of work and pitching around a two-out error and single in the top of the seventh inning to keep the score at 3-2. Arnold earned a no-decision after scattering seven hits in seven innings and striking out six batters while allowing three earned runs.

Wheaton pulled even in the bottom of the seventh inning when Joel Pierce roped a one-out double and moved to third on a throwing error. Albaugh followed with a double down the left line to tie the game and moved to third on a single by Welch, who quickly stole second base.  Josh Chamberlain worked his way out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning with the score tied at three.

Chamberlain would not be so lucky in the eighth inning after Caleb Selk tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Reichert led off with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Matthias Haggerty. An infield single by Mailman and a single through the right side loaded the bases for Pierce who lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right field to put Wheaton ahead 4-3.

David Solfelt closed out his second save the season with a perfect ninth inning to close the door on the doubleheader sweep. All ten Thunder players that recorded an at-bat in the nightcap recorded a hit as part of a 14-hit outburst for the Thunder who also stranded 12 runners. Welch led the way with three hits and an RBI and Pierce and Albaught each drove in a run with two hits.

Note Worthy: With his victory today, Michael McCraith moved past Steve Dennison (2008-11) into third place on Wheaton's career pitching wins list as McCraith improved to 18-6 on his career.