Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton softball team lost both games in a CCIW doubleheader against Carroll on Thursday at home. The visitors defeated the Thunder 4-1 in game one and 5-2 in the second game. Wheaton is now 11-15 overall and 8-11 in conference play. Carroll stands at 17-13 overall and 13-9 in the league.
The Pioneers won the opener 4-1 as the visitors scored four runs on ten hits with no errors, while the Thunder managed one run on two hits and committed two errors. Freshman
Alese Antonello (PICTURED ABOVE) started the game for Wheaton and allowed four runs, all of which were unearned. She also struck out three and walked three in her seven innings of work.
Ashley Carter and
Claire Busch managed one hit apiece for the Thunder, and pinch runner
Grace Bentley scored the lone run of the game for the home team.
Both teams struggled to get their offense going in the first game, as the contest was scoreless through the first four innings. The top of the fifth inning served to break the 0-0 tie, as a fielding error and a wild pitch helped the Pioneers score two runs and take a 2-0 lead. Wheaton was unable to score in the bottom of the inning, and Carroll came back with two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to move the score to 4-0.
After holding the Pioneers scoreless in the top of the seventh inning, the Thunder loaded the bases with no outs off of three consecutive walks in their final at-bat. A fielder's choice by
Sydney Heinrich allowed
Grace Bentley to score, but back-to-back strikeouts cut the rally short, ending the game in a 4-1 loss for the Thunder.
In game two, Carroll scored five runs on ten hits with three errors on the way to a 5-2 victory. The Thunder scored two runs on nine hits and had two errors.
Emilie Gist started pitching for the Thunder and tossed 5-1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and striking out one. Sophomore
Elise O'Neil threw the final 2/3 inning, allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout.
Gist and O'Neil each recorded an RBI in the game, while
Janette Oh,
Melissa Meiners, and
Madison Forberg all had multiple hits in the contest. Oh and
Sydney Heinrich scored one run apiece for the Thunder.
Carroll scored first in the nightcap, bringing in one run in the bottom of the first inning. The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when the Pioneers added another run to increase their lead. In the top of the fifth, Forberg led off the inning with a single for the Thunder and two batters later Gist singled to bring home Wheaton's first run of the game.
With their lead cut to 2-1, Carroll rattled off six hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to add three more insurance runs and increase the lead to 5-1. In the final Thunder at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, Oh (PICTURED LEFT) singled with one out and then advanced to third on a passed ball and a fielder's choice. O'Neil followed with a two-out single through the right side that brought Oh home and moved the score to 5-2. Busch and Meiners continued the rally with consecutive singles, but a flyout ended the inning and the game in a 5-2 victory for Carroll.
The Thunder will face off against Carthage in a home doubleheader on Saturday, April 24, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
