Chicago, Ill. -- The Wheaton baseball team returned to winning ways in conference play on Friday night, overcoming the North Park Vikings, 7-4, in the Windy City. Tonight marked Wheaton's fourth win in a row overall, and as a result, their record improves to 15-16 on the season and 8-5 in CCIW action.
Matthias Haggerty was one of the key performers in tonight's victory, as the senior recorded a team-high three RBIs off of two hits and scored a run.
Kyle Wu went 3-for-4 at the plate, earning a team-best number of hits to go with an RBI and one run.
Mason Diel joined him on an RBI and run, while also contributing two hits.
Harrison Stanton registered one in each category.
Ben Weaver and
Jacob Snyder each posted a run and a hit, while
Tyler Weiner earned one hit and one RBI.
Brendan Dyer moved to 5-0 on the mound for Wheaton this season, as the junior tossed three strikeouts in his six-inning appearance.
David Solfelt took over the reins for the final three frames, and the senior was imperious in relief, allowing just one hit and zero runs while adding two strikeouts for good measure to earn the save.
The Thunder wasted hardly any time in opening the scoring in tonight's contest. After Stanton and
Joe Klein got on base in the first inning, the aforementioned Haggerty brought his teammates in to score via a two-RBI double to right center field. A three-up, three-down opening series followed for North Park, and the visitors held an early 2-0 lead in Chicago. In the final at bat of the second inning, the Vikings got on the scoreboard by way of an RBI single to halve the deficit. But Wheaton immediately hit back with a four-run third frame to consolidate their advantage and ultimately put the game out of reach. Another RBI double from
Matthias Haggerty gave Wheaton their third score, and this was quickly followed by a triple from
Mason Diel that brought Haggerty himself to home plate. Back-to-back RBIs from
Kyle Wu and
Tyler Weiner, the first of which was a triple into deep center, helped the Thunder cushion their advantage. North Park added another run to their total in the bottom half, but this second inning outburst from Wheaton ultimately proved too deep of a hole for the hosts.
Harrison Stanton was responsible for Wheaton's final run of the night, when the sophomore singled to left center in the top of the sixth inning to get
Jacob Snyder across the pentagon. An RBI single and a sacrifice fly gave North Park a glimmer of hope of mounting a comeback in the bottom of the sixth, but Wheaton shut the game down defensively down the stretch and refused to let their hosts snatch the win.
Wheaton will have the chance to reach .500 on the season and ten conference wins when they host Carroll in a doubleheader at Lee Pfund Stadium. First pitch for tomorrow's series opener has been moved up to 11:00 AM due to an unfavorable weather forecast.
