Carol Stream, Ill. -- After multiple delays and weather-enforced schedule rearrangements, the Wheaton baseball team finally returned to Lee Pfund Stadium on Monday to contest their first pair of home games in the 2023 season. Two Minnesota schools that were set to take part in last weekend's Wheaton Invitational provided today's opposition, with Wheaton facing Northwestern in the first game before hosting Saint Mary's for the evening fixture. Both matchups were offense-heavy affairs, as Wheaton thumped Northwestern 15-5 in a seven-inning run-rule decision before coming back to edge Saint Mary's 9-8 on Monday night.
Joe Klein was the star of the show as Wheaton improved to 6-6 on the year, going 6-7 across both games and firing off three home runs with ten RBI to lead the Thunder batters.
The hosts' game against the Northwestern Eagles was a low-scoring and competitive battle until the two teams combined for six runs in the fifth inning and a three-RBI homer from Klein broke the 4-4 tie to put Wheaton in front for good. The Thunder got on the scoreboard first through a ground-out RBI that allowed
Jacob Snyder to run home, but Northwestern responded with two scores of their own to claim the lead. Klein made his first big offensive play of the day by doubling out to center field and helping bring
Mason Diel across to tie the score at two runs apiece.
Larken Lancaster then nudged Wheaton back in front with an RBI single to right-center field. It looked as though the Eagles were in it for the long haul when they conjured up two more runs in the top of the fifth to retake the lead at 4-3. But the combination of a poorly-timed wild pitch and
Joe Klein's deep shot with two runners on base helped the Thunder blow the game open by surging into a 7-4 advantage. Northwestern scored their final run in the seventh frame, but it ended up being of little consequence as Wheaton batted for a collective RBI cycle to tally eight runs in the bottom half and put the game to bed. Klein started off the eight-point tidal wave with a two-RBI double before Snyder put the result beyond doubt with a three-RBI home run of his own.
Harrison Stanton came up with a two-RBI triple to put Wheaton on the brink, and
Matthew Chesney came in to pinch hit which resulted in Stanton scoring the decisive run to end the game prematurely.
The Thunder tallied twice as many hits as their northern visitors and committed one error to Northwestern's two across the seven frames. Klein led the Wheaton batsmen with a 3-4 showing at the plate, a game-high 6 RBI performance, and three scored runs of his own.
Jacob Snyder and
Harrison Stanton also had solid showings, each going for a pair of hits as the former tallied three RBI and the latter earned two and both players scored a pair of runs.
Ben Weaver was 2-3 with two runs, and Lancaster posted two hits, an RBI, and a run.
Mason Diel reached home plate three times and picked up a hit.
Luke Hamm contributed one hit and one run, while Chesney drove in the final score of the game with his pinch hit single.
Jared Kloth earned his second win of the season in as many games as the only pitcher on the mound for Wheaton in game one. The sophomore tallied six strikeouts and conceded only two walks and four earned runs from the 32 batters he faced in his seven innings of work.
While the ultimate outcome was the same for Wheaton in game two, the final score and story of the contest was very different to the Thunder's win over Northwestern. The Saint Mary's Cardinals were also playing their second game of the day, having taken a talented Aurora squad to extra innings on Monday afternoon. But both teams had spells of impressive play that suggested that any fatigue was being successfully compartmentalized, and the game required nine frames for the sides to be separated. The visitors got off to the perfect start, outscoring Wheaton six to one through the opening three innings. The Thunder only generated two hits in their first three offensive series - a solo home run by
Joe Klein and a
Noah Yi triple that did not result in a score before the third out. A pitching change for Wheaton at the top of the fourth inning yielded a successful defensive stand, but there was little indication that the hosts were about to get back in the game.
Ben Weaver was not ready to leave, however, and the senior captain blasted a one-run homer over the center field wall to generate some momentum for the Illinois boys.
Jacob Snyder soon followed suit as his smack was carried all the way to the scoreboard to bring himself and Klein in to score and reduce the deficit to 6-4. But another run for Saint Mary's in the top of the fifth via an RBI single and a three-up, three-down sequence for Wheaton in the bottom half seemingly halted any positive trajectory that the pinstripes had built up.
But the sixth inning proved to be the decisive turning point in the contest, as Wheaton erupted for five runs and erased an 8-4 disadvantage in a single go-round. Once again, Weaver started off the comeback with a single up the middle before
Mason Diel did the same in the DH spot.
Joe Klein, the right man at the right time, was all too happy to bring his two baserunners in with his third home run of an exceptional day, and Wheaton suddenly found themselves with all the momentum. With
Jacob Snyder standing at third base and the home crowd and dugout urging him on,
Noah Yi came up with a critical RBI single to tie the score at 8-8. The only question that remained was if Wheaton could take it one step futher and gain a lead of their own before the end of the inning, and even with the subsequent pitching change made by the Cardinals, Yi provided that answer himself thanks to some alert baserunning and a throwing error by the Saint Mary's catcher. The Thunder had now come all the way back to seize a slim 9-8 tilt, but they knew they still needed to blank the Cardinals in the next three frames if they wanted to earn their second home win of the day.
Brendan Dyer stepped up to the mound and promptly saw off three straight batters to instill a sense of confidence in the Thunder defense. A bases-loaded tag-out to stop Wheaton from scoring in the bottom of the seventh and a no-hit eighth frame did the hosts no favors on the defensive side, but the Thunder held on for the win by the finest of margins thanks to three consecutive strikeouts from closer
John McCraith, who earned his first save of the season after coming in for the final inning. Saint Mary's managed to put two runners in scoring position with no outs on the board, and the table was set perfectly for the Cardinals to extend the game. But the senior pitcher from Georgia held his nerve and refused to allow the opposing baserunners to reach home plate, ending the game in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning punctuation mark.
Saint Mary's out-hit the Thunder by a margin of four on Monday, but the Cardinals were often unable to turn these hits into scores and left ten runners on base, while Wheaton was far more efficient on offense. Both teams committed one error in the contest, with the Cardinals' mistake being a critical one that allowed Wheaton to score the final run of the game.
Four pitchers saw time on the mound in game two for Wheaton on Monday, with
Caleb VanKerkhoff earning his first win of the year as the pitcher of record when the Thunder mounted their comeback. He and
Nate Barker combined for three strikeouts before Dyer and McCraith came in for the final three innings to shut out Saint Mary's and solidify the victory. The latter two throwers each totaled three strikeouts and gave up just three hits from 13 batters faced in a quality relief effort.
Joe Klein only grew stronger as the day went on, and the senior led the way for Wheaton with a perfect 3-3 game tonight in which he totaled two home runs, four RBI, and scored three times.
Ben Weaver and
Jacob Snyder were not far behind, as the former put in a 3-4 performance with two runs and an RBI, and the latter collected two hits, scored twice, and generated a pair of RBI.
Noah Yi made a valuable contribution of two hits, an RBI, and one run, while
Mason Diel posted a hit and one run.
Wheaton does not have long to celebrate the ideal start to their home schedule with Beloit College coming to town on Tuesday evening in a quick turnaround. The Thunder and the Buccaneers are scheduled to face off at 5:00 PM at Lee Pfund Stadium.
