Carol Stream, Ill. -- The Wheaton baseball team continued its busy week by welcoming Millikin University to Lee Pfund Stadium on Friday evening for the first installment of their three-game series to end the regular season schedule. The Big Blue earned a 6-0 victory tonight to gain an early advantage over the Thunder in an important head-to-head slate that will have direct consequences on next week's CCIW Tournament. With this result, Millikin's record now stands at 20-18 on the year and an even .500 in conference play with a 9-9 mark, while Wheaton slips to an 8-10 record in league play, sitting just behind tonight's opponent in the conference standings. With three of the tournament's six spots still up for grabs heading into the final day of the regular season, both the Thunder and the Big Blue will be aiming to extend their campaigns for another week when they meet at Pfund Stadium again tomorrow for two more games.

Friday's contest served as Wheaton's 'Senior Night' game, and the nine graduating players on this year's roster were honored along with their families in a special ceremony before the first pitch.

Both sides were left frustrated in the first inning of tonight's meeting, as each team left two runners on base without being able to open the scoring. The first two runs of the game came in fortuitous circumstances for the visitors, as Millikin took the lead on a passed ball in the top of the second inning and added another score in the next frame via a balk. But the Big Blue put in an impressive defensive performance tonight, not allowing the Thunder to get a runner past second base until the sixth inning. By that point, Millikin had extended its lead to five runs thanks to two RBI hits in the fifth inning and a ground-out RBI in the top of the sixth. Wheaton loaded the bases in the bottom half, but an unlucky foul out and a well-timed double play by the Millikin defense kept the home side scoreless.

Starting pitcher Nate Burden (pictured left) equipped himself well on Friday, scattering just four hits and two earned runs from the 28 batters he faced, but the visitors capitalized on Wheaton's two errors this evening and stifled the hosts' offense to come away with an important road win. The Thunder put two more players on base in the bottom of the seventh frame but were again unable to bring them home, and Millikin added one more run from an RBI single in its final batting series to account for the game's final scoreline.

The Big Blue only registered one more hit than the Thunder this evening at an 8-7 split, but Millikin's ability to bring its runners all the way around the bases, coupled with the home side's two errors, proved decisive. The visitors left six players on base tonight compared to 11 for the hosts. Both teams drew four walks and struck out nine times. The Big Blue also tallied four extra-base hits compared to just one for the Thunder.

Burden threw for the first six innings this evening and struck out seven Millikin batters in that time. Billy Kessler finished out the last three frames on the mound for Wheaton and tallied a pair of strikeouts while conceding only one run and no walks.

Chris Lynam went 2-4 at the plate in Friday's contest and logged Wheaton's only extra-base hit with a double in his first at bat. He was joined on two hits by Jack Gill and Noah Yi, while Nathan Hedlund also registered a hit. Luke Hamm caught two opposition runners stealing tonight to take his season total to 16, a figure that currently leads the CCIW this year. The senior has now caught 41 runners stealing in his career, the second-highest total in Wheaton history behind only Kyle Trivits' mark of 51 set between 2014-17.

The Thunder and the Big Blue were originally scheduled to meet in Decatur on Saturday for the last two games of this weekend's series. But a bad weather forecast in the area around Millikin's campus forced tomorrow's twinbill to be relocated to Carol Stream. Wheaton and Millikin will now meet back at Lee Pfund Stadium for the pair of games beginning at 12 PM, with the Big Blue remaining as the designated home team on Saturday. Both squads know that two wins tomorrow will be good enough to seal their spot in the CCIW Tournament, while anything less than a sweep on Saturday will leave the Thunder hoping for the necessary results elsewhere to confirm their place in next week's competition.