Carol Stream, Ill. – In the final conference doubleheader of the regular season, the Wheaton College baseball team faced Millikin University for a pair of games on Saturday afternoon. The twin bill was originally scheduled to be played in Decatur today, however rain in the forecast in Decatur, Illinois moved the games to Lee Pfund Stadium. Millikin won both games today to sweep the series with the Thunder. The Big Blue won today's first game 9-4 and Millikin was a 12-2 victor in seven innings in game two.
Today's doubleheader and the other regular season finale contests in the conference this weekend played a key role in settling the participants, seeds, and host of the 2025 CCIW Baseball Championship next week. Wheaton has earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will face No. 4 seeded Millikin in an elimination game on Wednesday, May 7 at 2:00 p.m., at top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University. The victor of Wednesday's game will face either Illinois Wesleyan next Thursday at noon, or North Central at 3:30 p.m. LINK TO THE CCIW TOURNAMENT PAGE
Saturday Game 1 Recap – Millikin 9, Wheaton 4
The Big Blue struck early with tallies in the first and second innings. But Wheaton erupted in the top of the fifth inning to leap ahead 4-2. Two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out. Freshman James Scott delivered a RBI single to leftfield, and an error on the play cleared the bases. Two batters later, freshman Jack Gill knocked a RBI single to left center. Wheaton filled the bags once again, but the Big Blue escaped any further damage.
Millikin immediately answered by tying the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth, and then surged ahead 8-4 in the sixth. The visitors took advantage of their bases-loaded opportunities in both frames and tallied five runs in those scenarios. The Big Blue added some insurance with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning to account for the final score.
The Thunder finished the game with nine hits offensively and one error defensively. Scott swung the big bat, going 3-for-5 with one RBI. Junior Nathan Hedlund submitted a multi-hit effort, batting 2-for-4.
Senior starting pitcher Jared Kloth (4-7 record) tossed the opening 5-2/3 innings for Wheaton. He allowed seven earned runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Releiver Jack Lindsay went the rest of the way with one run allowed in 2-1/3 innings.
Saturday Game 2 Recap - Millikin 12, Wheaton 2 (7 innings)
The second contest of the day featured plenty of offense from Millikin, as the Big Blue banged out 15 hits in six innings. Millikin jumped out a 6-0 lead through two innings thanks to a two-run single, a two-run homer, an error and a sacrifice fly.
Wheaton's offensive output came in the top of the fifth. Senior Daniel Hillyer plated both runs on a double to right field with two outs.
However, Millikin's offense kept rolling along and ended the game after seven innings via the run rule.
The Thunder concluded with five hits and two errors. Senior Rutledge Feltel went 1-for-1 with two walks, and freshman Braden Engel batted 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Sophomore Alex Bagley started the game on the mound, going two innings with four earned runs allowed and two strikeouts. Three Wheaton relievers took over from there – sophomore Josh Ortiz (2.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 K); senior JD Van Hook (0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 K); and senior Sean Smith (1 IP, 1 ER, 2 K).
