Kenosha, Wis. -- After starting its CCIW schedule with a win at Carroll University on Tuesday, the Wheaton baseball team returned to Wisconsin this afternoon for the first of its two games against Carthage College this weekend. The hosting Firebirds won Friday's matchup by a score of 15-2 to join the Thunder on a 1-1 record in conference play and improve to 12-6 overall. The two squads will meet again tomorrow in Carol Stream, as Wheaton hosts Carthage for an 11:30 AM contest at Lee Pfund Stadium on Saturday.
Carthage scored one run from the only hit of the first inning but tallied three hits and four runs in the second to establish an early cushion.
Rutledge Feltel blasted a home run over the left field wall in the top of the fourth to put Wheaton on the board, but the home side added five more runs in the bottom half to pad its lead.
Braden Engel accounted for the Thunder's second run with a solo homer of his own, the first of his collegiate career, in the sixth inning, before the Firebirds posted the final two runs of the evening to close out their seven-inning victory.
Carthage enjoyed an efficient performance on both sides of the ball, racking up 14 hits and committing zero errors while limiting Wheaton to three hits. The Firebirds' starting pitcher was in fine form on Friday, giving up only three hits and two runs from the 24 batters he faced while tallying 15 strikeouts and just one walk across seven innings.
Jared Kloth and
Alex Bagley split the Thunder's six innings on the mound, as Kloth got the start and struck out two Carthage players. Bagley sat down five Firebirds and did not walk any of the 17 batters he threw to this evening.
Engel and Feltel each went for one hit, one run, and one RBI on their home runs today, while
Luke Hamm also registered one hit for Wheaton.
The Thunder will look to share the spoils from the teams' regular season series when they take on the Firebirds in their conference home opener on Saturday.
