Fort Pierce, Fla. -- The Wheaton baseball team entered today's contest against the Gettysburg College Bullets on the back of the only game of their season thus far not to involve a double-digit scoreline. But the stoppage of this trend proved to be temporary, as the runs returned for the Thunder in Tuesday night's win, the team's lone game played under the lights on their Spring Break trip. After a low-scoring start to the matchup, Wheaton posted four runs in a crucial sixth inning to create some breathing room between themselves and their Pennsylvania opponents. The eventual 8-3 victory moved the Thunder back into the win column, and the team's record now stands at 3-4 on the year.
As the designated away team for Tuesday's meeting, the Bullets had the first opportunity to put a run on the board, and they did exactly that following a fielder's choice situation and error by the Thunder defense. But Wheaton immediately answered back through a
Ben Weaver RBI double that brought
Kyle Wu across home plate after the latter had singled in his first at-bat. A walked batter with the bases loaded gave Wheaton their second run and the early advantage that they craved against a team that has already posted six wins in 2023. The two sides then combined for only three hits in the next two frames as the scoring dried up and the pitchers for both teams found their rhythm. The Thunder inadvertently returned the favor in the top of the fourth inning by walking a Gettysburg batsman with the bases loaded to make the scoreline level at 2-2.
Wheaton managed to avoid falling behind on the scoreboard in the top of the following frame as Gettysburg left a runner stranded on third base, but the Thunder could not manage to reclaim the lead in the bottom half. Finally, separation arrived in the runs column in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Wheaton piled on four scores to place one hand on the win. Despite the first two batters failing to get on base, the pinstripes managed to capitalize on a Gettysburg error and walk to put a runner in scoring position. Wu then fired off another single to load the bases, and Weaver subsequently notched his second RBI double of the evening to bring
Tyler Weiner and
Harrison Stanton in to score. Weaver and Wu crossed home plate themselves when
Mason Diel came up with a well-timed two-RBI single to further cement Wheaton's advantage.
The Bullets ended their 17-batter streak of failing to register a hit with a well-struck home run over the left field wall in the top of the eighth inning, but this proved to be Gettysburg's final tally of the contest, as an over-eager base runner brought the batting series to an end and three of their five batters in the final frame struck out swinging. Wheaton's final two runs of the game came in the penultimate inning as Weaver and Wu scored once again, this time via a throwing error by the Bullets' defense.
Wheaton out-hit Gettysburg by an 11-8 margin and won despite committing two more errors than the Bullets.
Nate Barker was smooth on the mound in his five innings pitched on Tuesday, posting five strikeouts and only allowing two runs and four hits from 25 batters faced.
Nathan Hedlund came in to contribute three innings of relief work and earned his first collegiate win as the pitcher of record while surrendering just two hits and collecting one strikeout.
Joe Klein made his first appearance of the season on the mound in the ninth inning and tallied the three strikeouts that ultimately secured the win for Wheaton.
Kyle Wu and
Ben Weaver were supreme in the batter's box for the Thunder this evening, as the former led all players with four hits from five at-bats and scored three times, while the latter joined him on three runs, registered three hits, and earned a joint team-best two RBI.
Mason Diel accompanied Weaver on three hits and a pair of RBI.
Tyler Weiner posted one hit and scored one run in the win.
After taking a break from baseball on Wednesday to participate in their annual Service Day activities, the Thunder will return to the field on Thursday to meet fellow Illinois side, the Monmouth College Fighting Scots. First pitch is scheduled for 1 PM local time in Fort Pierce.
