Chicago, Ill. -- The Wheaton baseball team took the short trip east to face off against North Park in a CCIW contest on Tuesday evening. Having beaten the Vikings at home four days prior, the Thunder were looking to claim the series sweep by winning in their opponent's backyard. But North Park held Wheaton off to claim a 6-5 victory in a competitive matchup that featured multiple lead changes. Wheaton's season record drops to 14-14 with tonight's defeat, and the Thunder are now 6-6 in CCIW action.
The visitors responded well to their first two at-bats of the game resulting in outs, as hits from
Ben Weaver and
Joe Klein and walks by
Matthias Haggerty and
Mason Diel allowed Weaver to score the opening run on Tuesday. An RBI single by North Park in the bottom of the first frame tied the game up at one each. But the deadlock lasted only a few minutes, as
Jacob Snyder launched a home run into right field to begin the second inning and restore Wheaton's edge.
A sharp fielding connection between
Noah Yi and
Tyler Weiner prevented the tying run from scoring and resulted in the hosts' third out of the second inning, but NPU did not have to wait long to get back in front on the scoreboard. After a three-up, three-down showing in the top half of the third, the home side scored twice via a two-RBI double in their batting series to jump out to a 4-2 lead. Wheaton registered only one more hit before the eighth inning, and the Vikings scored another run in the seventh frame to double their advantage.
However, the Thunder delayed any sense of a quick win for North Park by taking full advantage of a pitching change in the penultimate inning.
Harrison Stanton fired off a double, and a single by Weaver that was followed by a throwing error allowed Stanton to touch home plate. Weaver then scored the tying run himself thanks to an RBI single by
Joe Klein. The Vikings notched the second out of the inning to slow Wheaton's momentum, but there was still time for
Larken Lancaster to register an RBI single of his own and bring
Matthias Haggerty across to edge Wheaton back into the lead at 5-4.
Unfortunately for the suburban side, this late charge ultimately proved fruitless as North Park tallied another pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to reestablish their slim lead. The Vikings then saw the game out without much fuss in the top of the ninth by not allowing any runners to reach second base before collecting the decisive out.
The narrow scoreline was also reflected in the number of hits in Tuesday's meeting, as North Park posted nine to Wheaton's eight. The crucial difference came in the error column, with Wheaton committing five mistakes and their hosts only making one. The Vikings saw 13 of their runners left on base over the course of the game, while the Thunder stranded seven of their own.
Six pitchers got playing time for Wheaton this evening, with
Caleb VanKerkhoff lasting the longest on the mound at three innings. He registered one strikeout and was joined on this figure by starting thrower
Nathan Hedlund and the last pitcher of the game,
Sean Smith.
Ben Weaver had another productive offensive showing, going for two hits, two runs, and a stolen base.
Joe Klein contributed a pair of hits and an RBI.
Jacob Snyder's home run was a standout moment in the game for Wheaton, and he was matched on one hit and one RBI by
Larken Lancaster.
Harrison Stanton generated a hit and scored one time.
The Thunder don't have it easy as they look to get back in the win column and on the right side of .500. A short turnaround sees Wheaton host local non-conference opponents Aurora, who has only dropped three games all season and is ranked 11th in the country in this week's D3baseball.com Top 25 poll. The Thunder and the Spartans are scheduled to meet at 6:00 PM on Wednesday in Carol Stream.
