Decatur, Ill. -- It ended up being a nail-biter, but the Wheaton baseball team did enough to earn their first road win over the Millikin Big Blue for five years on Tuesday night. The Thunder rode their early offensive output to a 5-0 lead, before a clutch double play and some sharp pitching helped the side escape Decatur with the victory. As a result, Wheaton improves to 3-1 in conference play and begins their four-game road stretch with an important win.
A double play from the hosts and the Big Blue going three-up, three-down in the bottom ensured that tonight's contest got off to a defensive start. But a one-run triple from
Matthias Haggerty in the top of the second frame helped pry open the floodgates, and Wheaton added another score through a sacrifice fly to build an early 2-0 advantage. After repeating their defensive lockdown in the bottom of the inning, back-to-back doubles from the guests with one run attached forced an early pitching change for Millikin. The Thunder then made it 4-0 when
Joe Klein repaid the favor to
Ben Weaver for his prior RBI by bringing his fellow junior home off of another double. The home side registered their first hit in the third inning off of a bunt, but Wheaton did not allow a score in the series and held a comfortable edge after the opening exchanges.Â
The middle portion of Tuesday's clash was more defensive, with the two teams each earning just one run. A Millikin throwing error followed by a well-placed double shot from
Kyle Wu allowed
Tyler Weiner to push Wheaton's lead to five runs, before the Big Blue finally got on the scoreboard with an RBI double to right center in the bottom of the fifth. The visitors from the north tallied their sixth run of the evening in the top of the seventh when a
Mason Diel RBI single followed a
Ben Weaver triple. After allowing no hits and no runs in the bottom, it appeared as though the Thunder were heading for a straightforward win on the road.Â
But the eighth inning proved otherwise. After failing to do anything offensively, Wheaton conceded four runs off of three hits, two errors, and a wild pitch to give Millikin a route back into the game. Fortunately for the away team, a pitching change followed by a strikeout helped calm the nerves and ensured that Wheaton still held a slender advantage heading into the decisive inning. Three straight ground outs in the top of the ninth meant that Millikin had the chance to tie the game or win it in nine, but a stylish double play from
Jacob Snyder prevented the hosts from seizing this opportunity. With one runner already on first, the Big Blue attempted a bunt, but the third baseman read it perfectly and dove down to make the catch before the ball fell to the turf. Shooting up quickly, Snyder zipped the ball to first base and the Millikin baserunner was tagged out. This perfectly timed exchange helped the Thunder regain the confidence that Millikin had snatched away in the eighth frame, and the team grabbed the final out in the next at-bat to ice away the win.
Ben Weaver helped steer the offensive unit for Wheaton, going for two runs, two hits, and an RBI.
Matthias Haggerty and
Kyle Wu joined him in the latter two categories, with Haggerty also scoring one run.
Joe Klein picked up one of each, while
Graham Core and
Tyler Weiner both registered a hit and a run.
Mason Diel tallied two RBIs and one hit on the evening.
Brendan Dyer collected his second win of the season on the mound tonight, as the junior tossed six strikeouts in six innings of play while allowing just one run and three hits.
John McCraith entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning and secured his second save in four days, picking up two strikeouts to end both the penultimate and final innings.
The Thunder only have a couple of days to enjoy this victory before conference action returns. Next up, Wheaton travels to Bloomington on Friday evening to face Illinois Wesleyan.
