Fort Pierce, Fla. -- Eight days after arriving on the Atlantic coast of Florida for this year's Spring Break trip, the Thunder baseball team wrapped up its stay in the Sunshine State with a single game against the Lions of Penn State Behrend. The AMCC side won this morning's contest by a score of 8-2 to improve to 8-4 on the season. Wheaton finishes its seven-game Florida schedule with a mark of 3-4 and will now return to campus to begin preparations for a busy week of home action starting on Wednesday.
Penn State Behrend racked up 15 hits to Wheaton's nine on Saturday, with both teams committing multiple errors. Despite the 24 total hits put in play today, only two were good for extra bases, with neither side registering a triple or a home run and the Lions limiting the Thunder to all single shots. Baserunners were active for both teams this morning, as Wheaton stole five bags and Behrend took two.
16 different fielders got in the game for the Thunder today, and six pitchers saw time on the mound. Senior outfielder
Payton McClowry was 2-4 at the plate, scored one run, and stole a game-high two bases, while
James Scott matched him on two hits and contributed the team's lone RBI of the day.
Ryan Cartwright came up with a hit in his only at-bat and scored one run, and he was joined on one hit by
Jack Gill,
Nathan Hedlund,
Joshua Liu, and
Tim Whitfield.
Jared Kloth pitched the first three innings of Saturday's matchup for Wheaton and struck out three Lions players.
JD Van Hook sat down four opposition batters and did not allow a hit or a run in his 1.2-inning cameo.
Jack Lindsay,
Josh Ortiz,
Sean Smith, and
Micah Johnson all entered the game as relief pitchers this morning, the last of whom tallied two strikeouts.
The Erie, Pa. side started the game with a lead-off single, but neither team scored in the first inning as both squads saw one runner stranded on base. An RBI double brought in the first run of the day for the Lions in the second frame, but Wheaton did well to get out of the series with two players still on base and answered back in the bottom half when McClowry stole second and third before making it home on a throwing error to tie the score at 1-1.
But Behrend then returned the favor by stranding a pair of Wheaton runners, and this would prove costly, as the Lions tallied three runs in the third frame to build a lead they would not relinquish. The Thunder kept PSB off the scoreboard in the next three innings but were unable to score themselves, and the Lions put up four more runs across the final three frames to seal the win.
This season's home opener is the next item on the itinerary for the Thunder following their Spring Break travels. Wheaton will take the field at Lee Pfund Stadium for the first time on Wednesday evening in a 5 PM contest against Concordia University Chicago. Next weekend brings Wheaton's annual round robin, as the team plays host to Calvin University, Marian University, and Saint Mary's University (Minn.) across Friday and Saturday.
