Kenosha, Wis. -- The Wheaton softball team began the final week of their regular season with a conference doubleheader in Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon. The Thunder fell 2-0 to the Carthage Firebirds in game one before claiming a 6-1 victory in the second act. Today's pair of contests kicked off a run of six games in five days for the team, as Wheaton heads to Notre Dame on Thursday to take on Saint Mary's (Ind.) in nonconference play before returning home to host Augustana in a Senior Day doubleheader. After today's split in Kenosha, Wheaton's record sits at 15-19 overall and 3-11 in CCIW action.
Game one on Tuesday was short on offensive action and scoring, as the two sides combined for only seven hits and two runs. Carthage scored the first run of the day, and what proved to be the winner, in the bottom of the fourth inning after a leadoff single allowed the Firebird batter to eventually round the bases. An RBI single two innings later gave the home side their second score, and this cushion proved sufficient for Carthage to claim the win, despite the hosts registering fewer hits than Wheaton. The Thunder posted four hits to Carthage's three, but the visitors committed one error while the home side was flawless. Carthage's sharp fielding kept their guests off the scoreboard, and the Wheaton runners made it no further than second base in today's first meeting.
Paige Andrews earned a team-high two hits in game one, while
Claire Busch and
Elise O'Neil each tallied one.
Emilie Gist was on the mound for the Thunder, and the junior tossed seven strikeouts in her six innings of play while conceding only three hits from 22 batters faced.
Game two got off to a very similar start, as Carthage registered the only two hits of the first four innings. Wheaton failed to generate any offensive momentum, but their impressive defense meant that the two teams entered the fifth frame still knotted at zero runs apiece. Fortunately for the visitors, the last three innings of the day went decisively in their favor.
The Firebirds once again opened the scoring via an RBI single, and the trailing runner advancing to third threatened to make things worse for the Thunder. But back-to-back outs limited Carthage to a single score, and Wheaton used this confidence boost to tally the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the frame. A single down the right field line from
Alese Antonello opened the floodgates, and three subsequent fielder's choices brought in the tying run, as
Sydney Heinrich crossed home plate for Wheaton.
Emilie Gist then fired off a single of her own to put
Elizabeth Meyer in scoring position, and Wisconsin native
Olivia Nahorniak was all too happy to bring her teammates in to score courtesy of a two-run RBI immediately thereafter. Having failed to score any runs on the Firebirds for eleven straight innings, the Thunder suddenly found themselves up two with only two frames left to play.
A three-up, three-down sequence for the hosts in the top of the sixth meant that it was Wheaton's game to lose, and the visitors from south of the border were determined not to let their chance slip away. A double from
Elise O'Neil resulted in a fourth run when
Madison Forberg drove in an RBI single in the next at bat. Another RBI single, this time from Heinrich, padded Wheaton's lead on the scoreboard, and their offensive outburst was complete when a sacrifice fly allowed Antonello to score the final run of the day. Carthage managed to get a runner to third base in the final frame, but consecutive ground outs ended any attempt at a comeback and meant that Wheaton would not be making the trip home empty-handed.
Alese Antonello picked up the win on the mound for Wheaton in today's second game, registering three strikeouts. The sophomore also played a key role offensively for the Thunder, as she tallied a team-high two hits and scored one run.
Madison Forberg and
Sydney Heinrich both went one-one-one in the box score for runs, hits, and RBIs.
Olivia Nahorniak secured one hit and two RBIs, while
Emilie Gist and
Elise O'Neil each tallied a run and a hit.
Elizabeth Meyer and
Paige Andrews both posted an RBI, with the former also scoring one run for Wheaton.
