Carol Stream, Ill. -- With Thursday's non-conference game at Aurora University being postponed, the Thunder baseball team returned to the field for the first time since last weekend this afternoon, welcoming Carthage College to Lee Pfund Stadium for the opening section of their three-game series. Wheaton routed its Wisconsin opponent by a 20-7 scoreline on Friday to snap a five-game skid and stay ahead of Carthage in the CCIW standings. The Thunder are now 13-16 on the year with a 6-7 mark in conference play, while the Firebirds drop to 11-18 and 4-9 in league action.
This evening's final score marked the largest margin of victory and highest single-game run total for Wheaton since a 23-3 win over Gallaudet University in Florida in March of 2023. Additionally, the nine hit-by-pitches tallied by the Thunder in today's win saw the squad break the program's single-season record for HBP with 77 and counting, surpassing Wheaton's previous high of 74 that was set in the 2024 campaign.
With both teams posting 11 hits this afternoon, the Thunder's ability to get on base proved to be a pivotal difference-maker, as Wheaton drew eight walks in addition to the nine HBP registered by eight different batters. The hosts' total of 17 free bases far surpassed that of Carthage's six on the day. The Thunder tallied five extra-base hits and saw 10 runners stranded, while the Firebirds collected four distance hits and left 12 players on base.
Jack Gill led Wheaton's high-powered offensive effort with a 4-5 showing at the plate, three RBI, and two runs. He was joined on three RBI by
Tyler Burr,
Nathan Hedlund, and WIll Clegg, underlining the Thunder's hitting prowess. Burr scored a game-high three times and posted a pair of hits, Hedlund contributed two hits and two runs, and Clegg finished with one of each.
Sean Dmytrowicz and
Caleb Schauer each provided two runs and two RBI, while
Chris Lynam registered two scores with one RBI and
Braden Engel matched Burr on three runs.
David Levengood started on the mound in Friday's fixture and earned his team-leading fourth win of the year, tossing three strikeouts in five innings of work.
Jonah Moulton and
Jamin Van Grouw each had cameos in relief in this evening's abbreviated contest.
After stranding Carthage's top hitter in scoring position to begin this afternoon's matchup, Wheaton wasted no time in seizing an early advantage, plating four runs in its opening offensive series. Gill knocked the first of his three RBI singles on the day through the left side to score Burr, before Hedlund cleared the bases with a three-RBI double blast in the same area. A sacrifice bunt and an RBI single halved the Firebirds' deficit in the top of the second, but Levengood limited the damage by stranding three opposition runners on base with a clutch strikeout. The Thunder then made it 5-2 in the bottom half from another Gill single shot that brought Burr across the pentagon.
Carthage was forced to rue another missed opportunity in the top of the fourth frame when it left two players on base and failed to chip away at Wheaton's lead. The home side made its northern visitor pay with another four-run sequence that put the Thunder in firm winning position at 9-2. Gill started the scoring run with the bases loaded via a single into right field that drove in
Ryan Cartwright. Clegg's hit by pitch allowed Burr to touch home plate once again, before
Charlie Scofield walked to bump Lynam all the way around the bases. Dmytrowicz getting struck by a pitch shortly thereafter completed Clegg's journey and stretched Wheaton's lead on the scoreboard to seven runs.
Following a scoreless fifth inning, a wild sixth frame saw a combined 14 runs put up, as the Thunder took the game out of the Firebirds' reach with 11 runs in the bottom half. A two-RBI double to left center field and an RBI double to right center brought in three Carthage players to make it 9-5 in the top of the inning. But Moulton shrugged off the second of these two hits and a walk to strand three baserunners once again and keep his team's relatively comfortable cushion intact.
The visitors' errant pitching then cost them severely as Wheaton tallied 11 runs from just two hits to sew up the victory. After two walks and two wild pitches brought in four runners, Clegg ripped a single into right field that scored Gill and Lynam to extend the Thunder's lead to double-digits. Two more hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded made it 17-5, before Burr put a ribbon on the Thunder's successful night with a bases-clearing double that nearly snuck over the center field wall. A two-run homer in the top of the seventh frame gave Carthage the final scores of the night, but these were not enough to prevent the guests' run-rule defeat, as Wheaton kicked off the weekend series in dominant fashion.
After an action-packed opening game, the Thunder and the Firebirds will reconvene for a twinbill in Kenosha tomorrow. Saturday's first contest is set to begin at 1 PM, with game two starting at approximately 4 PM in Wisconsin.
