GAME STATS Carol Stream, Ill. - Wheaton's modest three-game winning streak came to an end on Friday night at the hands of a dominant pitching effort. The Thunder mustered just five singles in a 10-1 loss to the North Central at Lee Pfund Stadium. Wheaton falls to 11-20 on the season and 7-16 in conference action. The Cardinals, ranked ninth in the most recent D3baseball.com Top 25, improve to 24-6 overall and 18-3 in the CCIW. The two clubs will conclude their season series tomorrow with a doubleheader at North Central.

North Central got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning and added three more in the top of the third to take a 4-0 lead. The Cardinals broke the game open with five runs in the top of the fourth inning capped by a three-run home run to lead 9-0.

The Thunder bullpen settled the game after the fourth inning holding the Cardinals scoreless over the next four innings. After allowing the first two hitters he faced to score, Wesley Kao finished with just two runs allowed in 2.2 innings of work in relief of starter Jacob Garrity. Daniel Larimer followed with two innings of shutout relief before the Cardinals pushed their final run across in the top of the ninth. Larimer struck out six in his three innings of work.

Two of Wheaton's four hits came in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mason Packwood led off with a single and later came in to score on a two-out single by Ben Weaver. Packwood finished with two of Wheaton's four hits with Joel Pierce and Noah Yi accounting for Wheaton's other two hits of the game.