Bloomington, Ill. -- The Wheaton College baseball team took on Illinois Wesleyan University in some mid-week CCIW action on Tuesday night. Wheaton was unable to take the victory, as the Titans defeated the Thunder, 13-12, with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
It was a high-scoring affair that saw 25 runners cross home plate on the day. The Thunder's 12 runs came on 17 hits, while the Titans matched them with 17 hits of their own. In what was a fairly clean game defensively, both teams totaled just one error each. Illinois Wesleyan needed eight pitchers to get the job done today, while Wheaton used four in its effort.
Wheaton pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts on the mound. Junior JD Van Hook got the start for the Thunder, striking out three batters. Caleb VanKerkhoff punched out five of his own. Nathan Hedlund gave the visitors 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two.
The Thunder jumped on the home team early, scoring four runs in the first inning. Mason Diel and Kyle Wu both had base knocks with the bases loaded to drive in one run and two runs, respectively. Wheaton's bats went quiet the next four innings while Illinois Wesleyan took a 7-4 lead.
Senior shortstop Noah Yi led off the sixth inning with a single up the middle. Shortly after, Matt Nelson launched a ball to the left-field fence, driving in Yi and picking up a triple. Before the inning was over, Jacob Snyder ripped a single that scored Nelson, bringing the deficit to one.
Some timely hits and good base-running by the Titans in the bottom of the sixth put the pressure back on Wheaton. The hosts put up five runs in the inning to take a sizable 12-6 lead.
Refusing to back down, Joe Klein led off the top of the seventh with a double to right-center. Behind him, Diel added a single to put runners on the corners. Wu drove in one with a single to right field. Catcher Luke Hamm was able to bring in another run with a sacrifice fly. Nelson stayed hot at the dish with a double to left which scored Wu. After a pitching change, Daniel Hillyer kept the momentum going with a huge single that scored two runners.
Nathan Hedlund would hold the Titans for the next two innings, as Wheaton entered the top of the ninth inning down 12-11. Luke Hamm reached on an error by the third baseman with one out in the inning. Nelson took a walk, and a sacrifice bunt by Hillyer would put runners on second and third base with two outs. Illinois Wesleyan opted to intentionally walk Snyder, which did not go as planned as a hit-by-pitch on Harrison Stanton brought in the tying run.
The comeback was short-lived as Jack Flagg hit a deep fly ball to right field in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the Titans to score and secure the walk-off victory. The win brought their record to 16-9 and 6-3 in conference play.
Diel, Wu, and Nelson contributed over half the Thunder's hits, each collecting three apiece. Wu led the team with three RBI. Nelson and Hillyer both finished their days with two RBI. Yi, Stanton, and Snyder all had multiple hits at the dish, as well. Stanton and Klein each were hit by a pitch, bringing the team total to 52 on the year. Wheaton has already taken ten more hit by pitches than all of last season (42). This mark puts them at 25th in NCAA Division III for team HBP.
The Thunder fell to 7-15 on the year and 1-6 in CCIW play with tonight's result. They look to turn things around with a three-game set with Carroll University this weekend. Game one will take place at Carroll at 6:00 P.M. on Friday, April 12.
