Chicago, Ill. – The Thunder baseball team traveled to Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) on Thursday for a non-conference game that was rescheduled from earlier in the month when it was rained out. The Scarlet Hawks defeated the Thunder 7-6 in the matchup.
IIT scored seven runs, on seven hits, with one error, while Wheaton tallied six runs, on four hits, with three errors. Freshman pitcher
Josh Ortiz started the game for the Thunder, working one inning. He allowed three runs, on one hit, with one walk and hit two batters. Josh Liu pitched two innings of relief as he allowed two runs, on two hits, with four walks and three strikeouts. Junior
Jared Kloth pitched three innings, with one run allowed, on two hits, with three strikeouts and four walks. Senior
Caleb Downing pitched two innings of relief with one run allowed, and two hits.
Harison Stanton,
Kyle Wu,
Joe Klein and
Noah Yi each tallied a single for the guests.
Daniel Hillyer stole two bases, while Stanton and Wu each stole a base.
Daniel Hillyer drew three walks and stole two bases.
Wheaton scored four runs in the top of the first inning to gain an early 4-0 lead. Klein drove in Wheaton's first run with an RBI-single. Yi followed later in the inning with a two-run single and
Payton McClowry drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Scarlet Hawks scored three runs in the bottom of the first to trim Wheaton's advantage to 4-3.
IIT scored twice in the bottom of the second inning to give the hosts a 5-4 lead, their first advantage of the game. The Scarlet Hawks tacked on an additional run in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase their lead to 6-4. In the top of the sixth inning, Stanton hit an RBI-single and later scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 6-6.
In the bottom of the seventh inning IIT led off the inning with a bunt single and took advantage with a sacrifice fly two batters later to drive in the game-winning run.
The Thunder return to CCIW play this weekend with a three-game conference series against Elmhurst. Wheaton plays the Bluejays at Elmhurst's Butterfield Park on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. The two teams play a doubleheader at Lee Stadium on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m.
