Louisville, Ky. – The Wheaton Thunder baseball team opened its season on Friday morning against Spalding University (0-4). Wheaton had a pair of big innings and utilized strong pitching to defeat the Golden Eagles 8-2. Wheaton, now 1-0 on the season, will conclude its trip to Louisville on Saturday with a doubleheader against Spalding. Today's game was moved to Trinity Baseball Stadium due to field conditions, while tomorrow's twinbill against the Golden Eagles will be played on the Spalding campus.
The Thunder scored eight runs, on 12 hits, with one error today, while the Golden Eagles scored two runs, on nine hits, committing one error. Thunder starting pitcher
Joe Klein (1-0) earned the win in five innings on the mound. The junior allowed two runs, including just one earned run, scattering six hits, with three strikeouts and one walk allowed. Senior
Bjorn Bostrom tossed two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit, with a strikeout. Junior
John McCraith pitched two innings, with no runs allowed, scattering two hits, with two walks.
Thunder outfielder
Carson Slater was 3-for-4 at the plate this morning, with a triple, two runs scored and one RBI. Junior centerfielder
Ben Weaver went 3-for-4, with a walk and a double. Weaver drove in one run and score another. Designated hitter
Mason Diel was 2-for-5, with a run scored.
Spalding reached the scoreboard first with one run in the bottom of the third inning. Wheaton responded with five runs in the top of the fourth to gain a 5-1 lead. Weaver and
Matthias Haggerty opened the fourth with walks and Diel hit a single to load the bases for the guests with no outs. A Spalding error on the next at bat allowed Weaver and Haggerty to score, giving the Thunder a 2-1 advantage. An RBI-single to centerfield by Slater drove Diel home for a 3-1 Thunder lead.
Harrison Stanton hit a two-out single to drive in two more runs to account for Wheaton's 5-1 lead.
Spalding added one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning to trim Wheaton's lead to 5-2. Wheaton again responded to a Golden Eagles' run with multiple runs in its ensuing half inning. This time the Thunder plated three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Slater hit a one out single to start the Thunder offense in the sixth and
Matt Nelson followed with a single that sent Slater to second base. Senior
Graham Core belted a two-run single to left field that brought Slater and Nelson home. Weaver followed Core in the next at bat with a single to right field that brought Core home and gave Wheaton its 8-2 lead.
Bostrom relieved Klein in the bottom of the sixth inning and induced a double play in the inning and struck out a Spalding batter for the third out. The Golden Eagles went three-up-and-three-down in the bottom of the seventh.
McCraith entered in the bottom of the eighth inning and allowed one Spalding hit in each of his innings, but kept the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard.
