Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team (18-18/9-7 CCIW) swept Elmhurst College (8-23/2-14 CCIW) on Friday afternoon in a key CCIW doubleheader at Ruth Leedy Field. Wheaton won the opener 2-1 and accomplished the sweep with an 8-5 victory in the nightcap.
 

Thunder senior Kelly Thornton hit a pair of singles on Friday to improve her career total to 176 base hits. Her single through the left side of the infield in the top of the second inning established a new program record for base hits (176) as she passed the previous school record of 175 set by Lesley Guenard (2009-12)

Wheaton topped Elmhurst 2-1 in the opener on Saturday as the Thunder scored two runs, on four hits, with two errors and Elmhurst tallied one run, on six hits, with two errors. Thornton (12-8), Wheaton's starting pitcher earned the win in seven innings of work. She allowed one run, on six hits, with five strikeouts and no walks allowed.

Janette Oh hit a double for the Thunder and drove in both of Wheaton's runs in the game. Maddy Bonetto, Melissa Meiners and Thornton each hit singles for the Thunder.

Oh hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Elmhurst tallied one run in the top of the sixth inning to trim Wheaton's lead to 2-1. However, Wheaton held on for the 2-1 victory.

Wheaton earned the sweep with an 8-5 victory in the second game. The Thunder scored eight runs, on 11 hits, with two errors and Elmhurst scored five runs, on eight hits, with three errors. Thunder pitcher Maddy Whitmer allowed two runs, on one hit. Ashley Carter earned her third victory of the season in five innings. She allowed one run, on five hits, with one walk and one strikeout. Thornton earned the save in two innings of relief as she allowed two runs, including one earned run. Thornton scattered two hits, with two strikeouts and no walks allowed.

Carter was 3-for-4 at the plate, scoring three runs, with two RBI. Carter hit her fourth home run of the season and added a double. Melissa Meiners was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Hannah Clark was 2-for-5, with two RBI.

Carter and Claire Busch each hit one RBI-single single in the top of the first inning as the Thunder scored four runs in the opening inning to take an early 4-0 lead. Elmhurst tallied two run in the bottom first inning to trim the Thunder advantage to 4-2. Clark hit a one-out single in the top of the second inning and scored two batters later on a RBI-single by Meiners to extend the Thunder lead to 5-2. Elmhurst scored one run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Wheaton advantage to 5-3.

Carter's solo home run over the leftfield fence in the top of the fifth inning increased Wheaton's lead to 6-3. Wheaton added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its advantage to 8-3. The Bluejays scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to account for the 8-5 final score.

Wheaton travels to University of Chicago on Monday, April 29 for a non-conference doubleheader against the Maroons. The twinbill at UChicago was originally scheduled for tomorrow (April 27); however, it has been postponed to Monday due to a forecast of rain and snow for Saturday in the Chicagoland area.