Wheaton, Ill. – Playing in one of three doubleheaders this week, the Wheaton Thunder competed against the North Central Cardinals on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was originally scheduled to be played in Naperville today, but due to the recent rainfall and unsuitable playing conditions at North Central College, the games were moved to Ruth Leedy Field. The Cardinals were victorious in both contests, winning game one 2-0, and earning the sweep with an 8-0 shutout in game two.
In the opening game, both sides produced shutout innings. The Cardinals won the game 2-0. North Central tallied the first run of game one in the bottom of the second. The Cardinals added another run in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Even though the Thunder mustered two hits compared to the Cardinals' twelve, the game remained competitive due to Wheaton's defense, the Cardinals stranding twelve base runners and some NCC miscues. In the bottom of the seventh inning,
Nori Kang reached on base on a NCC wild pitch, and
Amaya Daniels drew a walk to put two base runners with the go-ahead run at the plate. However, North Central held off the potential Thunder rally to win game one.
Kang and
Shylah Dozeman each recorded a hit in game one. Dozeman started the game in the circle the nod in the circle, going 4 1⁄3 innings and striking out a batter. Dozeman allowed two earned runs in the outing.
Dillon Watson pitched 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief
North Central won the nightcap 8-0Just like in the first outing, the Cardinals scored the first run of game two in the bottom of the first inning. The 'Orange and Blue' threatened throughout the contest, picking up singles from
Cate Welch,
Makena Malecha, and
Bella Giles but North Central kept the Thunder from scooring. A double play in the third inning halted one promising opportunity, and North Central remained steady behind its pitching. Meanwhile, the Cardinals offense capitalized off of some Wheaton fielding mistakes, scoring three runs in the third inning and four runs in the fifth inning to walkoff the win via run-rule.
With today's results, the Cardinals improve to 9-13 (3-5 CCIW) while the Thunder fall to 12-16 (1-7 CCIW). The Thunder will play in two days, with a road doubleheader at Elmhurst before squaring off against the Olivet Comets in Michigan on Friday.
