Tucson, Ariz. - The Thunder baseball team kicked off its annual spring break on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Marian University in the Tucson Invitational. Wheaton opened the day with a 7-1 victory in game one before finishing the sweep with a 12-4 nightcap winner. The sweep pushes Wheaton to 5-0 on the young season while the Sabres fall to 1-3. Wheaton will be back in action on Monday morning with a 9 am first pitch against Wabash.

Wheaton took the opener, scoring seven runs on 11 hits while allowing one runs on just three hits. In the nightcap, the Thunder scored 12 runs on 14 hits with two errors with the Sabres plating four runs on five hits with one errors.

Sam Reichert opened the offense, leading off the second inning with a triple before scoring on Noah Ritchie's single. An inning later, a leadoff double by Stephen Pierson set the table for an RBI single by Graham Core and a 2-0 Thunder lead. The Thunder broke the game open with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ben Weaver singled home Connor Hartman following a two-out double before coming around to score when Brett Albaugh was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Marian got on the board in the top of the fifth inning to cut the score to 4-1, but Wheaton answered in the bottom of the inning with RBI singles by Weaver and Matthias Haggerty to push the lead to 6-1. Joel Pierce's RBI single in the top of the seventh inning scoring Albaugh to account for the final 7-1 tally.

Kevin Champlin earned the win on the mound, improving to 2-0 on the season with six innings of work, allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts. AJ Dhus finished the game with a scoreless inning of relief.

The Thunder offense wasted no time in the second game, striking for three runs in the top of the first inning highlighted by an RBI double by Joel Pierce and a two-run home run by Sam Reichert. Wheaton piled on with four more runs in the top of the second inning including a two-run double by Reichert, giving the Thunder a 7-1 lead. Marian got to the Thunder bullpen in the bottom of the third inning to pull within 7-3 but would pull no closer as Jacob Garrity slammed the door on the Sabre rally by stranding the bases loaded.

Wheaton blew the game open with four runs in the top of the fifth inning and added another two runs in the top of the seventh inning to push the final gap to 12-4. Sam Reichert led the Thunder offense with five runs driven in on a home run and a double. Noah Ritchie reached base in all four plate appearances, tallying two hits and two walks. Jesse Welch scored three runs on two hits and Joel Pierce scored twice and drove in two runs.

Jacob Garrity earned the win in relief, working 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit.