Fort Pierce, Fla. -- Playing in the penultimate contest of their Florida Spring Break trip, the Wheaton baseball team matched up against Kenyon College for the first time on Friday, and the series-opener did not disappoint. The two teams combined for 21 runs and 36 hits in an offensive showdown that required ten innings to reach a decision. The Owls from Ohio never trailed the Thunder, but Wheaton staged a dramatic comeback in the ninth inning to force an extra frame and give their traveling fans something to cheer. Kenyon's eventual 12-9 victory dropped Wheaton's season record to 3-6, and the Illinois outfit will be hoping to end their time down south on a happier note.
After forcing a three-up, three-down opening batting series from the Owls, Wheaton registered two hits in the bottom of the first inning, including a double by
Matthias Haggerty. But the Thunder failed to bring their two runners in scoring position home, which proved to be a recurring theme in Friday's game. Wheaton left a runner on base 15 times through the ten innings, and this figure affected the eventual final scoreline, even with Kenyon seeing ten of their own players left on base. An RBI double and ground-out score gave the Owls their opening pair of runs in the second frame, but Wheaton answered back when
Luke Hamm knocked a double out to left center field to bring in
Larken Lancaster. Kenyon added a third run in the equivalent inning, before the two sides each scored two runs over the next two frames as both offenses grow bolder in their approach and the team's starting pitchers struggled to impose their will on the game. A
Joe Klein homer over the left field wall stopped the Owls' momentum by trimming the deficit to 5-2, and another Hamm RBI double allowed Lancaster to score again. Kenyon managed to stretch their lead back up to four runs, but a bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly that enabled Haggerty to cross home plate cut the advantage back down to two runs at 7-5.
A pitching change for the Thunder at the start of the sixth inning produced the desired effect by yielding two strikeouts and no hits.
Harrison Stanton worked his way up to third base as Wheaton looked to reduce Kenyon's lead to one in the bottom half, but the Owls picked up the third out before the junior could touch home. Wheaton's next scoring play would not arrive until the eighth inning when a
Ben Weaver triple would bring Stanton home, but by this time, Kenyon had already notched two more runs, and it seemed as though the Thunder's chance to pull out a win had passed. Another pitching change and a runner interference call helped Wheaton blank Kenyon in the top of the ninth, and the scoreboard read 9-6 heading into what appeared to be the last three outs of the contest.
But the Thunder were not prepared to call it a day. Klein smacked a single into left field as the first batter up, and back-to-back wild pitches brought pinch runner
Donovan Williams up to third base.
Jacob Snyder then earned an RBI double to pull Wheaton back within two runs, and another wild pitch prompted a Kenyon switch on the mound. Lancaster grounded out in the next at-bat but succeeded in bringing Snyder in to score. After a fly-out in the next exchange, it was down to
Harrison Stanton to come up with a big play to extend the game. With two outs on the board and the Owls' reliever feeling confident, Stanton shook off the pressure and blasted a home run over the fence in right center to tie the game and complete the comeback. The Wheaton cheering section responded with shouts of celebration and disbelief as the Thunder staved off defeat and seized the momentum seemingly out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, that momentum did not last long. Kenyon saw out the ninth inning with little fuss after Stanton's tying run and registered three runs in the top of the tenth to put one hand on the victory. Wheaton managed to load the bases with no outs in the bottom half, the ideal situation when trying to summon a three-run response. But consecutive infield fly outs and a controversial strikeout call meant that the Thunder could not manage to bring those baserunners in to score and tie the game. While Wheaton was understandably disappointed not to walk away with a dramatic late win, there was still pride to take from the fact that they had forced an extra inning out of a game in which they never led and never seemed to be the team in full command.
Stanton led the way offensively for the Thunder on Friday, tabbing three hits, an RBI, and two runs, including his memorable ninth-inning homer. He was joined on a trifecta of hits by
Ben Weaver and
Matthias Haggerty, with the former also going for an RBI and a run and the latter scoring one time.
Joe Klein,
Luke Hamm, and
Larken Lancaster all registered two hits and a pair of RBI, as the latter also scored two runs.
Jacob Snyder contributed one hit, RBI, and run to the Thunder cause.
Brendan Dyer pitched the first five innings of Friday's matchup and tallied as many strikeouts.
Josiah Livingston made his first appearance of the season and earned two strikeouts in his three innings of relief work.
Rutledge Feltel and
John McCraith each posted one strikeout in their lone innings on the mound, with the former conceding no hits or runs in the ninth frame.
Wheaton will conclude its 2023 spring break series by taking on another non-conference opponent for the very first time, the Gallaudet University Bison. First pitch is set for 9:30 AM local time on Saturday morning in Fort Pierce.
