GAME STATS 1 | GAME STATS 2 Jan Phyl Village, Fla. — The Wheaton softball team played a pair of games Monday morning as they continued their spring break trip in central Florida. Despite leading early in both contests, the Thunder fell to Elizabethtown College, 12-3, in six innings and to Emmanuel College (Mass.), 16-3, in five innings.

In the first game of the morning, Wheaton and Elizabethtown each sped through a three-up, three-down first inning before Wheaton opened up the scoring in each of its next two frames. In the top of the second, Alese Antonello singled to the shortstop and advanced to third when teammate Madison Forberg reached base safely on an error from an infield grounder. Freshman Abigail Latka then laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Antonello and give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Isabel Hillyer led off with a walk before advancing to third on a single to centerfield from Elizabeth Meyer. When Meyer stole second and the Bluejays faked a throw-down, Hillyer was picked off trying to score, but Wheaton was still able to bring in a run during the next at-bat when Hillyer scored on a passed ball, bringing the Thunder advantage to 2-0.

In the Bluejays' half of the third frame, a single to left field, Wheaton defensive error, and Bluejay homerun propelled Elizabethtown to a sudden 3-2 lead. However, after Thunder pitcher Alese Antonello regrouped to retire the next three batters, she then stepped into the batters box and led off the top of the next inning with a solo homerun to even the score at 3-3.

Unfortunately for Wheaton, the rest of the game would remain relatively quiet offensively, while Elizabethtown would plate three more runs in the fifth followed by six in the sixth to end the ballgame. The Bluejays outscored Wheaton 12-3 and outhit the Thunder 8-4, while Wheaton committed four defensive errors compared to Elizabethtown's one.

Antonello threw 5.1 innings for Wheaton, allowing six hits, nine runs, two walks and two strikeouts. Tiegan Hoffman pitched the remainder of the sixth inning, giving up three runs on two hits with two walks.

Antonello also led Wheaton from the plate, tallying two hits, two runs and one RBI. Meyer added a hit and a run, Kylie Chetakian added a hit, and Latka recorded an RBI.

In the day's second contest, Wheaton again jumped on the scoreboard first, but was unable to maintain a lead while Emmanuel exploded from the plate. And, similar to the first game, Wheaton's defensive woes contributed to a few big innings for the Saints, as Emmanuel topped the Thunder 16-3 in five innings.

Wheaton's first run came in the bottom of the first frame. Olivia Nahorniak doubled to left field, advanced to third on a Paige Andrews single to center field, and then scored on an Antonello grounder that forced Andrews out at second base.

In the top of the next inning, Emmanuel plated six runs, thanks to a Thunder defensive error, two walks, a wild pitch, and single and a pair of doubles. The Bluejays exended their lead in the third inning with a walk, a Wheaton error, and a three-run homerun.

Wheaton started a small two-out rally in the bottom half of the third frame, scoring a pair of runs to bring the score to 9-3. Nahorniak doubled to center field and scored on a single from Andrews, who then advanced to second on an Antonello single to center and scored thanks to a Meyer infield single.

Emmanuel wasted no time answering, tacking another half dozen runs in the top of the fourth inning and then plating the final, game-ending run in the top of the fifth. Despite both teams tallying nine hits in the contest, Emmanuel scored 16 runs and had no defensive errors, while Wheaton scored three runs but had seven defensive errors.

Nahorniak recorded two hits and two runs for the Thunder, and Andrews added two hits, one run and one RBI. Abie Brown, Antonello, Meyer, Victoria Barbar and Chetakian each added one hit, with Antonello and Meyer contributing one RBI a piece.

Andrews started in the circle for Wheaton, tossing three innings and giving up five hits, nine runs, four walks, one strikeout and one wild pitch. Hoffman pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing six runs on three hits with three walks, one strikeout and one wild pitch, before Elise O'Neil pitched the final 1.1 innings, tallying two strikeouts and allowing one run on one hit.

Wheaton will look to rebound tomorrow as the thunder head back to the Diamondplex in Winter Haven, Fla., for a 2 p.m. contest against Rivier University and a 4:30 p.m. match-up against the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.