Bloomington, Ill. - The Wheaton softball team bowed out of the 2019 CCIW Softball Tournament on Saturday with a 2-1 loss to Carthage (26-13) in the first elimination game of the day. Wheaton ends the season with a 19-20 record.

Carthage scored two runs, on six hits, with no errors and Wheaton tallied one run, on four hits, with zero errors. Senior Kelly Thornton (PICTURED ABOVE) started in the circle for the Thunder, pitching six innings. She allowed two runs, on six hits, with four walks, with four strikeouts.

Thornton collected three of Wheaton's four hits in the game, including one double and a home run. The senior concluded her stellar career with a remarkable weekend in Bloomington as she hit for a .750 (6-of-8) batting average in Wheaton's three CCIW Tournament games, belting one home run, with two doubles. Thornton was also 1-1 in the circle this weekend with a 1.08 ERA in 13 innings, with seven strikeouts.

Wheaton gained the early 1-0 lead when Thornton hit a solo home run over the fence in left centerfield with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. The Lady Reds tied the game at 1-1 with a RBI-single in the bottom of the second inning. The contest remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Carthage gained a 2-1 lead on a RBI-single through the right side of the infield. Carthage held Wheaton to just one hit (a career-ending single for Thornton) in the final two innings as the Lady Reds advanced to the tournament's championship round.

Note Worthy: Senior Hannah Clark (PICTURED LEFT) departs the Thunder program in the top-five in seven different career statistical categories, including as the all-time leader in stolen bases (85)...Clark is second in career games played (161); tied for third in runs scored (110); tied for fifth in triples (9) and ninth in career hits (143)...Clark's 23 stolen bases this season is fourth on the program's all-time steals list and her 34 runs scored in 2019 ranks sixth...Thornton leaves Wheaton ranked in the top-five in 10 different offensive categories, including the all-time leader in hits (182) and total bases (299)...Thornton's 51 career doubles ranks second all-time in program history, she is third in career batting average (.408), third in home runs (18), third in RBI (116) and tied for third in runs scored (110)...Thornton tied Wheaton's single-season record for total bases with 87 this season and her 59 hits ranks second in the record books...she registered 18 doubles this season to rank second in Wheaton's single-season record book and her 37 RBI this year ranks fifth.