Carol Stream, Ill. -- In an unorthodox 'doubleheader' that was created as a result of multiple weather-enforced delays, the Wheaton baseball team played host to both Illinois Wesleyan and Millikin on Thursday evening in a pair of important conference matchups. The Thunder emerged victorious in their first game, a 12-10 decision over IWU, before falling, 9-1, to the Big Blue in the night clash. As a result of completing the season sweep over the Titans, Wheaton now sits in third place in the CCIW standings with a conference record of 7-5.
Having already run-ruled Illinois Wesleyan in a seven-inning masterclass in their first meeting of the season, the Thunder had a tough act to follow in this afternoon's home leg. But Wheaton showed no signs of slowing down against the Titans, putting up seven runs in the first four innings to create a large enough cushion to ultimately see out the win. A
Tyler Weiner RBI single got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning, before
Zach Ledbetter followed suit with an RBI single of his own to double Wheaton's advantage. The next frame saw the home side create real separation on the scoreboard. A two-RBI ground rule double courtesy of
Matthias Haggerty accounted for the first pair of Wheaton's four runs in the inning, before a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly completed the team's six-run edge.
Ben Weaver added Wheaton's seventh tally one inning later via an RBI double down the right field line. Illinois Wesleyan registered five hits through the first four innings, but a stingy Thunder defense prevented them from chipping into the hosts' lead. A double play on the very first put out of the game exemplified Wheaton's lockdown fielding early on.
After no runs were scored in the fifth frame, Wheaton seemingly iced the game away in the bottom of the sixth by adding three more runs to reach double-figures on the scoreboard once again. After loading the bases, a hit-by-pitch situation extended the Thunder's lead to eight runs. A sac fly followed by another RBI single from Weiner gave the home side the ten-run split, and Illinois Wesleyan looked to be headed for consecutive run-rule defeats against the same opponent. But the Titans were determined not to go down without a fight, and three runs in the top of the seventh inning prevented the early exit. Wheaton scored two more in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of RBIs from Weiner and
Matt Nelson, but the home team could not manage to get the one additional run they needed to stop proceedings from reaching the full nine innings. Ambitious swings at the plate and multiple fielding errors allowed the Titans to score an impressive seven runs in the final frame as part of a valiant comeback attempt, but closing pitcher
Jared Kloth struck out the final IWU batter, and the Thunder could breathe a sigh of relief after holding on for a precious conference win.
Ben Weaver and
Tyler Weiner did the heavy lifting offensively for Wheaton in game one, as the junior pair combined for team-highs of seven hits and four RBIs, while also scoring three runs.
Matthias Haggerty picked up one hit, two RBIs, and two runs, while
Joe Klein tallied three hits.
Mason Diel and
Zach Ledbetter posted ones across the board in these categories, and
Graham Core joined them on one hit and one run.
Kyle Wu secured two more RBIs, and
Matt Nelson earned one of his own off of one hit. Despite trailing Illinois Wesleyan in most of the key box score statistics, the Thunder's batting was clinical enough in the opening innings to get them over the line.
Brendan Dyer earned his fourth win on the mound this season for Wheaton and maintained his perfect record in 2022. The junior from Connecticut pitched 6.2 innings and tallied four strikeouts, while conceding only three runs and walking three batters.
Nate Barker pitched 1.1 innings and registered three strikeouts.
Josiah Livingston and
Jared Kloth each picked up one during their late cameos on the mound.
The second act of tonight's conference action at Lee Pfund was unfortunately a different story for the Thunder. Despite posting nine hits as a team and holding Millikin to a single tally in the final three frames, Wheaton were unable to score the runs that have carried them to victory in their previous outings. The Big Blue built up a five-run lead through the first three innings, and this proved sufficient to hold off any potential challenge from their hosts. Taking advantage of occasional Wheaton errors, pitching and fielding mistakes, and utilizing their front-foot base-running, the visitors from Decatur played like they were determined to avoid the same fate that their Bloomington neighbors had suffered in the game immediately preceding theirs.
Millikin made the most of their sequences at the plate, scoring nine runs off of their 12 hits. Wheaton's three errors also aided the Big Blue in staying out in front for the duration of the contest, and Millikin's zero errors helped the side maintain their lead without allowing the Thunder an easy route back into the game. An RBI double from
Ben Weaver brought
Noah Yi home for Wheaton's lone score in the bottom of the eighth inning, but it never felt as though Millikin were going to let tonight's lead slip away, and the Big Blue closed out the game via three consecutive fly-outs in the final frame.
Weaver continued his steady form at the plate, leading the way with two hits and one RBI.
Tyler Weiner joined him as the only other Wheaton batter to pick up multiple hits in game two.
Harrison Stanton,
Graham Core,
Noah Yi,
Jacob Snyder and
Zach Ledbetter each registered a single hit, with Yi scoring the aforementioned Thunder run.
Joe Klein got the start on the mound in game two, and he tallied three strikeouts. This number was equaled by
Jacob Rans in relief, and
Caleb Downing picked up a pair of his own in his one inning appearance. These two pitchers, along with
Bjorn Bostrom, ensured that Millikin did not tally a single hit in the final 2.1 innings of tonight's game.
The Thunder face a short turnaround before their next doubleheader, this time against the same out of conference opponent. Wheaton heads north to Beloit, Wisconsin to take on the Buccaneers on Saturday, with the first game scheduled to start at noon.
