Carol Stream, Ill. -- After starting their three-game series in Bloomington on Friday, the Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan baseball teams met again at Lee Pfund Stadium this afternoon in a CCIW twinbill. The Titans emerged victorious in both of Saturday's contests to complete a weekend sweep of the Thunder and solidify their second-place standing in the conference. IWU's record is now 19-12 on the year and 11-4 in league play, while Wheaton sits on an overall mark of 12-20 and 5-8 in CCIW action. Today's doubleheader marked the final home pair for the Thunder in 2025, as well as the team's last Saturday game at Pfund.
Yesterday's series-opener saw the visiting side race out to an early lead before Illinois Wesleyan held off a late Wheaton charge to secure a close win, and today's first game followed a similar trajectory. The Titans plated four runs in the opening frame on Saturday to establish a quick advantage thanks to a pair of ground-rule doubles, an RBI single, and a bases-loaded walk. Wheaton got on the board in the bottom of the second when
Chris Lynam popped a double into left center and made it home soon after thanks to a Titans miscue. But sharp pitching and fielding from the away side meant that his double was the Thunder's only hit until the sixth inning, and IWU added one more run in the top of the fourth to go back up by four. The visitors stranded a pair of Wheaton runners on base in the bottom of the sixth, before the Thunder returned the favor in the following frame by getting out of a bases-loaded situation to stay within touching distance.
Consecutive singles and a throwing error allowed IWU to push its lead to 6-1 in the eighth inning, but the hosts made their central Illinois opponents sweat by bringing in three runs in the bottom half to set up a high-stakes final frame. After
Noah Yi and
Jack Gill each registered a single to get on base,
Rutledge Feltel sent them both around the bases with a well-timed double into left field to make it 6-3 on the scoreboard. The senior then completed his own trip thanks to an RBI single from Lynam. But a pitching change and a fielder's choice tag-out ended this wave of momentum and preserved the Titans' edge. Wheaton blanked IWU in the top of the ninth to give itself hope for a series-tying victory, and
Payton McClowry (pictured right) led off the bottom half with a hit that got the sizable home crowd on its feet. But three-consecutive strikeouts followed, and Illinois Wesleyan
got the defensive stand it needed to seal the game and the series.
Friday's hair-splitting box score stats were replicated in Saturday's first meeting, with both teams committing two errors and Illinois Wesleyan tallying just one more hit than Wheaton at a 10-9 total. No bases were stolen by either team, and only one wild pitch/passed ball occurred in the clean defensive matchup. Game one saw only three total walks drawn, albeit IWU took first base four times via hit-by-pitch situations. The visitors left ten runners on base, while the home side saw six players stranded over nine innings.
Feltel had a productive outing in the designated hitter role, posting two hits, two RBI, and a run, while Lynam nearly matched his line on two hits, one RBI, and one score. Yi joined this pair on two hits and scored one time. Gill finished with one hit and one run, and McClowry registered a hit and an RBI in today's first contest.
Jared Kloth started on the mound for Wheaton in Saturday's first fixture, and the senior lasted eight innings, tallying one strikeout and allowing just one earned run after the opening frame.
Jack Lindsay came in to pitch the ninth inning, giving up a single hit and no runs or walks.
Today's second contest did not feature the same offensive explosion in the opening inning that the first two installments of this weekend's series did, with both sides going three-up, three-down to start. But the scoring began in the next frame when an Illinois Wesleyan runner made it home on a wild pitch. The Titans then extended their early lead in the top of the third from an RBI single and a single compounded by a fielding error to make it 3-0. Wheaton responded with its best batting sequence of the day, however, tallying seven runs from seven hits in the bottom of the third to emphatically turn the game on its head.
Jack Gill (pictured left) followed singles from
Noah Yi and
Sean Dmytrowicz with an RBI hit of his own to score the latter and begin the flurry, before
Rutledge Feltel ripped off a single into right field to bring Yi in to score.
Will Clegg then loaded the bases with his own single, and
Nathan Hedlund's subsequent walk allowed Gill to tally the tying run. McClowry extended the Thunder's surge with a two-RBI double to bring Feltel and Clegg across the pentagon, and the seven-run stretch was capped by another two-RBI double from
Ryan Cartwright to bring Hedlund and McClowry home and set the score at 7-3 in Wheaton's favor.
Both teams took a breather in the following inning with another three-up, three-down combo. Illinois Wesleyan registered three-consecutive singles in the top of the fifth and clawed one run back on the scoreboard, but a smooth double play by Wheaton's infield limited the damage. The Thunder got two runners on base in the bottom half, but a tough tag-out call at first gave IWU a boost and prevented the hosts from extending their lead. Two pitching changes took place in the top of the sixth frame, and the Titans registered two more runs to draw back within a single score at 7-6. The guests had the tying run at second base, but Wheaton got the third out it needed to preserve its slim edge. The Thunder then put one more run up in the bottom of the seventh after Gill led off with a double and was brought home by a sacrifice fly.
The visitors completed their comeback in the following inning, however, scoring five runs from three RBI singles and a fielder's choice to surge ahead at 11-8. Just as he did in game one, McClowry got Wheaton off on the right note in the bottom half, doubling into left center field. But the senior was harshly ruled out at third base when he went for the extra bag, and Illinois Wesleyan escaped the inning without conceding. The Thunder made quick work of the opposition batters in the ninth frame, before Yi and
James Scott reached third and second base, respectively, to bring the tying run up to the plate. But IWU's fielders again came up with the all-important stops on the next two at bats to keep Wheaton from snagging a hard-fought win on home turf.
The Titans registered 15 hits to the Thunder's 12 in Saturday's second contest. Just one of IWU's hits went for extra bases, while Wheaton rattled off four doubles. Both sides saw six players left on base and drew four walks, and Illinois Wesleyan stole two bags but also had two runners caught stealing. The two pitching committees each surrendered eight earned runs, and Wheaton tallied nine total strikeouts compared to Illinois Wesleyan's two. But the visitors committed no errors through the nine innings of play while the home side made four mistakes, and this ultimately helped decide the game's outcome.
Gill led Wheaton with three hits in game two and tallied two runs with one RBI. Both of McClowry's hits were doubles, and he joined fellow senior Feltel on two RBI and one run. Clegg posted two hits and one score, while Cartwright chipped in with one hit and two RBI. Yi and Dmytrowicz each contributed a hit and a run in today's second matchup.
Alex Bagley got the start for the Thunder in game two and tossed a game-high three strikeouts while giving up just two earned runs and no walks in his five innings of work.
Billy Kessler,
JD Van Hook, and
Sean Smith combined to finish out the remaining four frames, and each reliever sat down two Illinois Wesleyan batters during their cameos.
After a busy stretch of games, Wheaton does not have a midweek contest coming up and will get five days to recover before its next outing. The Thunder are back at home next Friday night for a single game against the North Park Vikings before the two sides meet in a doubleheader in Chicago the following day.
