Kenosha, Wis. – The Wheaton baseball team resumed CCIW play on Friday afternoon with a contest at Carthage College. Carthage defeated the Thunder, 5-4 in 11 innings thanks to a walk-off home run. The Firebirds and the Thunder conclude their three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Lee Pfund Stadium in Carol Stream. Tomorrow's twinbill begins with game one of the doubleheader at 1:00 p.m.

Carthage earned today's win with five runs, on nine hits, with three errors. Wheaton scored four runs, on seven hits, with one error. Freshman pitcher Alex Bagley pitched 5-2/3 innings, starting the game for the Thunder. He allowed four runs, on seven hits, with five strikeouts and three walks. Sophomore Nathan Hedlund pitched 2-2/3 innings of scoreless relief in an impressive outing. Hedlund held Carthage to one hit, with one strikeout and no walks. Sean Smith (1-1) pitched 1-2/3 innings of relief as he allowed one run, on one hit with four strikeouts and no walks.

Senior rightfielder Joe Klein was 3-for-5 with a double, as he scored one run and drove in one run. Klein was the lone Thunder player with a multi-hit game tonight. Kyle Wu and Jacob Snyder each hit a double, while Daniel Hillyer and Noah Yi added singles.   

Carthage gained an early lead in today's game as the Firebirds scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The hosts added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase the lead against Wheaton to 4-0.

Carthage starting pitcher Bryce Schaum threw a one-hitter through the game's first five innings. Wheaton put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning, an inning that saw Wheaton collect three hit against Schaum. Snyder hit a two-out single and he scored two batters later on a RBI-single through the left side of the infield off the bat of Klein. Snyder's run cut the Carthage lead to 4-1.

Wheaton trimmed the Firebirds' lead to 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning as Yi scored a Thunder run after hitting a one-out single. Wheaton added another run in the top of the eighth inning to cut the hosts' lead to 4-3. Klein led off the seventh with a double and he scored four batters later when Luke Hamm grounded out.

Wheaton string of consecutive innings with one run continued in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4. Harrison Stanton drew a one-out walk and Klein was hit by a pitch in the next at bat. Wu blasted a single up the middle and into center field to send Stanton home, tying the game at 4-4. Relief pitcher Sean Smith entered the game in the middle of the ninth. He faced two batters in the ninth and three batters in the top of the 10^th inning, striking out four of the five batters he faced in the ninth and tenth innings.

Carthage junior P.J. Moser hit a walk-off home run over the rightfield fence in the bottom of the 11^th inning. Moser's solo home run gave the Firebirds a 5-4 victory and the homer was Carthage's first run since the fourth inning.