Rock Island, Ill. -- The Wheaton baseball team hit the road again on Wednesday evening to take on the Augustana Vikings in a significant CCIW matchup. The Thunder were looking to bounce back from last weekend's heartbreaker in Waukesha, but the hosts had other ideas and used an early surge to eventually secure an 11-1 run-rule win. Wheaton's record drops to 12-12 on the year and 4-4 in conference play with Wednesday's defeat.
The visitors from the east got off to a positive start in Rock Island, as
Harrison Stanton knocked a lead-off single down the right field line. The junior was brought in to score by
Matthias Haggerty, who singled to center field soon after Stanton's hit.
Joe Klein then notched a base hit of his own to put Haggerty and himself in scoring position, but the Thunder could not capitalize and add to their tally before the end of the inning.
A two-RBI double gave Augustana the lead in the bottom half and another double allowed the Vikings' third run to cross home plate. The hosts held the lead from this point on, and a serious comeback attempt never materialized for the Thunder, as they were restricted to only one more hit in the remainder of the contest. Augie added seven runs in the final two innings to bring the game to a premature end.
Wheaton tallied four hits to Augustana's seven, and the two sides combined for five fielding errors. Seven Thunder runners were left on base, and while the Vikings managed to steal four bags, they prevented Wheaton from capturing any of their own. Six different pitchers saw time on the mound in Wednesday's matchup, and none of them threw for more than two innings.
Rutledge Feltel registered two strikeouts in the bottom of the first frame, and
Brendan Dyer,
Jared Kloth, and
Caleb VanKerkhoff each tallied one strikeout of their own.
Harrison Stanton was the lone Thunder batter to reach home plate thanks to
Matthias Haggerty's RBI, and both players finished with one hit to their names.
Joe Klein and
Larken Lancaster were responsible for Wheaton's other two hits this evening.
The Thunder will return to friendly confines hoping to get back to the right side of .500 in their next game. Coming up for Wheaton is a Friday evening contest against North Park at Lee Pfund Stadium.
