Carol Stream, Ill. – The Wheaton baseball team closed out its season on Saturday with a CCIW doubleheader against Elmhurst University at Lee Pfund Stadium. The Thunder won the opener 13-3 in seven innings, while the Bluejays picked up a 12-7 victory in the nightcap. Wheaton ends the 2023 campaign with a 16-22 overall record, with a 7-11 mark in CCIW play. Prior to today's game, Wheaton honored five seniors for their contributions to Thunder baseball: Matthew Chesney, Matthias Haggerty, Larken Lancaster, Josiah Livingston, and Ben Weaver.
 
The Thunder convincingly won the first game, 13-3 as the hosts scored 13 runs, on 15 hits, with one error and Elmhurst tallied three runs, on three hits, with no errors. Brendan Dyer (PICTURED LEFT) shined as the starting pitcher in earning his second win of the season. Dyer tossed 6-1/3 innings, allowing three runs, including two earned runs. He scattered three hits, with four strikeouts and four walks. Livingston worked 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief. Livingston struck out one and did not allow a hit.
 
Lancaster was 3-for-4, with a double, four RBI and two runs scored, and a stolen base. Tyler Weiner, the Thunder catcher, was 3-for-4, with three RBI. Haggerty was 2-for-2, with a home run. Haggerty drove in two runs, and he scored three times. Third baseman Harrison Stanton was 2-for-4 with his second home run in as many days, and a double. Stanton had two RBI and two runs scored. Weaver was 2-for-4, with two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base.
 
Wheaton reached the scoreboard early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Weaver drew a two-out walk and on the next at bat, Haggerty blasted a two-run homer. Elmhurst scored one run in the top of the third inning to trim the hosts' lead to 2-1. Wheaton broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 6-1 lead. Stanton led off the third with a home run to right centerfield. Lancaster had the big hit in the inning with a three-run double in the gap in leftfield. The Thunder added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-1. Wheaton's fourth inning run came off an RBI-single by Weaver.
 
Wheaton continued to add runs with two more in the bottom of the fifth. Weiner hit an RBI-single and Stanton drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. The hosts added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 13-1. Weiner hit a two-run single, while Lancaster and Jacob Snyder each added an RBI-single. The Bluejays scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but Livingston closed the door on the Elmhurst rally to secure the win for his team.
 
Elmhurst picked up a 12-7 victory in the second game as the guests scored 12 runs, on 22 hits, with no errors and Wheaton tallied seven runs, on 13 hits, with no errors. Thunder starting pitcher Jared Kloth worked 4-1/3 inning, allowing six runs. Kloth gave up 11 hits, with two strikeouts and no walks allowed. John McCraith pitched 1/3 of an inning in relief of Kloth as he allowed three runs, on five hits, with one strikeout. Caleb Vankerkhoff pitched 3-2/3 innings, allowing three runs, on six hits, with two strikeouts. Caleb Downing tossed 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief as he did not allow a hit.
Stanton was 2-for-4, with a triple, and two runs scored. Kyle Wu was 2-for-5 with a double. Joe Klein was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
 
Stanton hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the first inning and he scored two batters later when Weaver drove him in to give the Thunder an early 1-0 lead in the first. The Bluejays scored two runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead against the hosts. Wheaton scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth, with all the runs coming on a three-run double by Snyder. Snyder's double gave the hosts a 4-2 lead.
Elmhurst scored seven runs in lengthy fifth inning to give the guests a 9-4 lead. The Bluejays added another run in the top of the sixth to increase their lead to 10-4. Stanton hit a single in the seventh and scored later in the inning on an RBI by Weaver to cut the EU lead to 10-5. Elmhurst added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning to extend its lead to 12-5. Wheaton added two runs in the bottom of the ninth off of an RBI-double by Kyle Wu and an RBI-single by Haggerty in his final collegiate at bat.
 
NOTE WORTHY: Weaver's 67 hits this season is the fourth-highest single-season total in program history and his .435 batting average this year ranks third…with his outstanding season, Weaver (PICTURED LEFT) moved into third place on Wheaton's career batting average list with a four-season average of .391…his .588 career slugging percentage ranks fourth… Weaver's 16 career doubles is a school record, and he is fifth with 41 career doubles…Klein's 10 home runs this season is fourth on Wheaton's single-season homer list…Haggerty departs the Wheaton program second all-time with 88 career walks…he is third in team history with 159 games played and his 43 career doubles is tied for third…Haggerty graduates tied for fifth in program history in triples (10), and RBI (120), and he is tied for eighth with 184 career base hits.