Carol Stream, Ill. -- The Wheaton baseball team got their CCIW slate off to the best possible start on Friday evening, as the Thunder won both matchups with Elmhurst at Lee Pfund Stadium. Wheaton took the first game, 17-6, in an eight-inning affair before grinding out a 5-4 triumph in the day's second contest. With today's pair of wins, the team improves to 5-11 on the season and 2-0 in conference play. 

Right from the start, it was clear that the first of Friday's two games would be a high-scoring one. Graham Core opened the tally, before a ground-rule double from Matthias Haggerty brought Ben Weaver in to double Wheaton's lead. Mason Diel then stepped up and ripped a single down the right field line to bring Haggerty home, and the Thunder took an immediate 3-0 advantage into the second inning. But Elmhurst wasted no time in responding to the early setback. After three straight walks loaded the bases for the Bluejays, a single RBI put the visitors on the board, and this was instantly followed by a three-RBI double shot to right center field to swing the pendulum in Elmhurst's favor. Harrison Stanton answered back in the bottom of the second by cranking a double to center field which allowed Kyle Wu to reach the pentagon and tie the game at four. With eight runs scored in the first two innings, it became a case of which team's bats could stay the hottest.

In a surprising turn of events, the two sides did not register another hit until the bottom of the fourth inning, when a double by Wu was backed up by a Graham Core single to bring the leading run across. But in the fifth inning, the two teams rediscovered their potency at the plate. A pair of doubles, the second of which followed another walk, saw Elmhurst notch two more runs to regain the lead at 6-5 in the seesaw affair. But the Thunder eventually claimed the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning, when the tying RBI by Kyle Wu was immediately followed by a sacrifice fly from Stanton that combined with an Elmhurst throwing error to bring two Wheaton runs in to score. After Wu himself crossed home plate a few minutes later, another ground-rule double, this time courtesy of Ben Weaver, sent Core home, and Wheaton ended the inning with a 10-6 cushion on the scoreboard. After the Bluejays failed to chip away at the deficit in the top of the sixth, Wheaton all but wrapped things up with four more runs in the bottom. A Matthias Haggerty solo home run kicked things off, before a Tyler Weiner double allowed Mason Diel to round the bases. Stanton finished things off with a two-run homer to right field. No change in the scoreline occurred in the seventh inning, as Wheaton missed the chance to walk it off for an early run-rule victory. But the Thunder did not pass up the opportunity at the second time of asking. After keeping Elmhurst off the board in the top of the eighth despite the visitors having two runners in scoring position, the home side put it beyond reach in their offensive sequence. With Jacob Snyder waiting patiently at third, Kyle Wu rounded off his excellent game by collecting another RBI to give Wheaton a nine-run lead. Harrison Stanton then closed out proceedings by homering over the right field wall and giving Wheaton its 16th and 17th runs of an eye-popping display. 

Harrison Stanton and Graham Core were the leading batters for Wheaton in game one, as the two each posted three hits and scored two runs, with the former earning a team-high six RBIs. Kyle Wu had a memorable performance for the Thunder, registering three hits and two RBIs, while scoring four times himself. Matthias Haggerty went pairs across the board in these three areas, and he was joined by Mason Diel on two hits and two runs. Ben Weaver posted two hits and one run and RBI. Jacob Snyder and Tyler Weiner both went for one hit and two runs, with Weiner also contributing an RBI. Joe Klein connected on one hit and earned one RBI. Alex Vlaisavich secured his first win of the season on the mound for Wheaton, and the senior collected four strikeouts in his six innings of action. David Solfelt came in for the final two frames and posted three strikeouts while also giving up no runs in the process.
 

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With Elmhurst assuming the role of designated home team due to the weather-enforced schedule rearrangement, the second act of Friday's doubleheader got underway. Given the outpouring of runs in game one, it was perhaps inevitable that the next contest would be more of a defensive struggle. No scores were registered in the opening two innings, with the starting pitchers combining for four strikeouts in the initial frame, before the Bluejays went three-up, three-down in the second. Graham Core went from runner in the first game to creator in the second to open the scoring, as a triple from the senior carried Harrison Stanton home to give Wheaton the lead before Core scored seconds later himself on a passed ball. The Thunder then had a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the fourth inning, but a well-timed strikeout from the Bluejays allowed them to escape without any further damage. A double to left center field followed by a ground-out RBI put Elmhurst on the board in the bottom of the frame. After the two teams combined for only two hits in the fifth inning, the second game entered the homestretch finely poised at 2-1 in Wheaton's favor. The Thunder did not manage to extend their lead in the top of the sixth, and sensing an opportunity, the Bluejays seized their first lead of the contest off of a two-RBI double blast to right center field. What seemed like a decisive swing in Elmhurst's favor threatened to spoil any hopes Wheaton had of a Friday sweep, but their seventh inning response proved critical. Two walks and a Harrison Stanton single allowed the Thunder to load the bases, before Ben Weaver fired off a timely single of his own to send Jacob Snyder across home plate and tie the game at three runs apiece. A two-RBI single directly down the third base line from Matthias Haggerty then pushed Wheaton ahead 5-3 and sent the sizable Lee Pfund crowd into overdrive. The Thunder did not extend their advantage any further, but this was all the breathing room they needed, as Elmhurst only mustered one more run in the final three frames. The Bluejays loaded the bases themselves in the bottom of the seventh, but they could only produce a lone score off of a sacrifice fly to set the scoreline at 5-4 before a strikeout ended the inning. Both teams went three-up, three-down in the eighth inning, with the highlight of the exchange coming courtesy of a Larken Lancaster snipe to second base to tag out an ambitious Elmhurst runner. After Wheaton once again failed to pad their lead in the top of the ninth, the stage was set for a dramatic conclusion to the contest. With one player already on base, an Elmhurst single to right center field came close to spoiling the win for Wheaton, but the Bluejays runner tried to make it all the way home from his initial position on first, and Ben Weaver, Kyle Wu, and Tyler Weiner linked up to ensure that this bold strategy did not come to fruition. With two outs already away, it was do-or-die time for the home side, and a swinging strikeout on the final pitch of the game handed Wheaton a satisfying win to complete the double on Friday.   

Graham Core topped the box score stats in game two, going for two hits, two runs, and an RBI. Harrison Stanton also had a solid one-hit, two-run showing. Ben Weaver generated one RBI off of one hit, and Matthias Haggerty one-upped this mark with 2 RBIs. Larken Lancaster was the final Thunder batter to claim a hit in game two, and Jacob Snyder scored the other run for the team. Three Thunder pitchers saw time on the mound in Friday evening's contest, with Joe Klein picking up his second win of the season. The junior tallied six strikeouts in his six innings on the plate. John McCraith earned the save after replacing Bjorn Bostrom in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the former registered two strikeouts, including the final game-decider, to the latter's one.

After this evening's momentum boost, the Thunder will look to complete the sweep when they take on the Bluejays again on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon in Elmhurst. Read Full Article