Tucson, AZ -- Two days ago, the Wheaton baseball team were handed a heavy defeat by the tenth-ranked team in the country, the Aurora Spartans. Yesterday, Aurora were stunningly blown away by the Wabash Little Giants. It appeared on paper that Wabash should win today's showdown against Wheaton without much trouble. But baseball isn't played on paper, and the Thunder put in an impressive performance on Monday morning, forcing their opponents to play an extra inning before eventually being edged, 7-6. Wheaton led for a majority of the contest, and despite the final result, the team can gain confidence after going toe-to-toe with a strong squad and almost walking away with an upset.

After a morning frost forced the first pitch to be pushed back by an hour, Wheaton and Wabash took the field, and it was clear from the start that Monday's matchup would be a competitive one. Defense was the name of the game for the first two-thirds of the contest, as the teams combined for only one run in the opening six frames. Harrison Stanton banged a triple out to center field in the top of the third, and Graham Core was all too happy to take a ground out RBI to bring his teammate home on the following at-bat. But apart from this sequence, the majority of today's game was all about the pitchers. Wheaton's Joe Klein threw a six-inning shutout, and his Wabash counterpart only allowed the single score in his five innings on the mound. Klein earned four strikeouts and allowed as many hits with one walk in Monday's meeting. Derek Haslett, who left the field with his team trailing 1-0, gave up one fewer hit, but walked four Thunder batters. 

Once the backup pitchers came in, the runs finally arrived. Graham Core followed up his third inning RBI with two more in the top of the seventh, as the senior's single down the left field line was enough to allow Noah Yi and Tyler Weiner to cross home plate. One inning later, Matt Nelson reached first base on a bunt and eventually scored on an unearned run following a Wabash error. The scoreline reading 4-0, Stanton waited until Weiner was in scoring position and Yi resided on first base to hit another deep shot into left field, and as the sophomore ran to second, the aforementioned baserunners added two more runs to the board for Wheaton. With the Thunder holding the momentum and needing only six more outs to pull off a surprising and deserved win, it appeared as though Wabash were headed for defeat. But the Little Giants had other ideas. The side from Indiana finally scored a run in the bottom of the eighth via a groundout RBI. They followed up this initial tally by adding two more when a deep single to left field allowed their two baserunners who had just stolen second and third to round the bases. After the bats cooled off in the top of the ninth and Wheaton failed to pad their lead, Wabash completed the comeback at the last possible moment. Facing a 6-3 deficit with two outs gone, a clutch triple into the outfield gave way to a pair of Wabash runs. Then a single combined with a Wheaton throwing error gave the Wabash player on base time to complete the final leg of his circuit. Suddenly, it seemed as though the Little Giants might snatch the win in regulation. But David Solfelt emerged from the bullpen to ensure that Wheaton would still have a chance in extra innings. The senior only faced two batters in his cameo appearance on Monday, but played a crucial role by intentionally walking Wabash's most dangerous hitter, then striking out the next batter to finally end the frame. Wheaton managed to put a man on third in the top of the tenth, but a pivotal double play from the Wabash defense prevented the underdogs from taking the lead in the extra inning. Wabash then secured a dramatic walk-off victory by repeating their two-out escape act and hitting a shot out to left center field to bring their pinch runner on third base across the pentagon.

In addition to the standout showing from Joe Klein, Harrison Stanton (three hits, two RBIs, one run) and Graham Core (two hits, three RBIs) led the way for Wheaton on Monday. Matt Nelson also registered two hits and a run, while Tyler Weiner and Noah Yi accomplished the inverse. Jared Kloth and John McCraith each picked up a strikeout in appearances on the mound for the Thunder. A number of Wheaton fielders also made impressive plays on Monday, namely Matthias Haggerty helping turn two double plays and Larken Lancaster laying out for a full extension snag in left field.  

Today's loss drops Wheaton's record to 1-5. The Thunder will take the field in Tucson again tomorrow morning when they face Bethany Lutheran College in the fourth game of their spring break series.