Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team swept Augustana College in a conference doubleheader on Monday afternoon. The Thunder won the opening game 10-2 and closed out the sweep with a 12-2 victory in the nightcap.
 
Wheaton only needed five innings to secure victory in both games on the blustery afternoon, sweeping the Vikings for just the sixth time in program history since the conference introduced softball in 1987. The most recent sweep had come during the 2016 season. The two wins move the Thunder to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in CCIW play. Augustana drops to 3-11 on the year and 0-6 in the CCIW.
 
The Thunder won the opener 10-2, scoring 10 runs on 12 hits and recording no errors in the field. The Vikings scored two runs on five hits and also played a clean game defensively. Wheaton starting pitcher Emilie Gist (PICTURED LEFT) earned her fourth win of the season, striking out six, walking one and allowing two runs in five innings of work. Claire Busch led the Thunder at the plate, going 2-3 with a double and driving in five runs. Paige Andrews also recorded two hits for Wheaton, picking up a pair of RBIs on two doubles and a sacrifice fly.
 
Wheaton broke the game open in the bottom of the first inning, scoring four runs to take an early lead. With one out, Busch drove a three-RBI double to right field to score Gist, Ashley Carter and Alex Hilton. Andrews followed it up with a double of her own, sending one into the gap in left center to score Busch. After the Vikings went down in order in a quick top of the second, Wheaton continued to pour on the offense in their second time at the plate.
 
Carter led off the inning with a double, Gist was hit by a pitch, and Melissa Meiners singled to load the bases early in the frame. Busch once again came through with Thunder players on base, singling and bringing home two runs. Andrews hit a sacrifice fly to add one more run in the inning and give Wheaton a 7-0 lead after two innings. Elise O'Neil hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the third inning, blasting a solo shot over the left-centerfield fence. Sydney Heinrich followed with a triple and scored two plays later to extend the Thunder lead to 9-0 after three innings.
 
Augustana got on the board in the top of the fourth inning, scoring two runs on a homer from Ashley Mathers, but it was too little, too late for the Vikings. The Thunder added one more run in the bottom of the fourth inning and held Augustana scoreless in the top of the fifth to cruise to a 10-2 five-inning victory.
 
In game two the Thunder earned a 12-2 victory, scoring 12 runs on 13 hits with no errors. Augustana scored two runs on four hits and committed five errors in the field. Ashley Carter (PICTURED RIGHT) started pitching for the Thunder, going the distance and allowing just four hits and two runs while striking out one Viking batter. Six Wheaton batters had multiple hits in the game, and Hilton and Gist led the team with two RBIs apiece. Heinrich scored three runs for the Thunder in the second game.
 
Although Wheaton had two on base in the first inning of the second game, they were unable to capitalize on the early offense. Augustana struck first when they took a 2-0 lead after the second inning; however, they would fail to push another runner across the plate for the rest of the game.
 
Centerfielder Sydney Heinrich led off the top of the third inning with a single and scored the first run of the game for the Thunder following a fielder's choice play and a fielding error. The Thunder added two more runs in the inning to take a 3-2 lead. In the fourth inning, Hilton singled to drive in a run and put the Thunder up by two, but it was the fifth inning that broke the game wide open for Wheaton.
 
After Andrews reached on a fielding error to start the inning, the Thunder reached base on the next seven consecutive at-bats, scoring seven runs in the process. A single by Madison Forberg scored Meiners for the eighth and final run of the inning, putting the Thunder up 12-2 after four innings. In the top of the fifth, Carter retired the Vikings in order to secure the 12-2 Wheaton victory.
 
Following the sweep, the Thunder will travel to Elmhurst to face off against the Blue Jays in a CCIW doubleheader on Tuesday, March 30.