Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder hosted the North Park Vikings in a pivotal CCIW doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Ruth Leedy Field. Prior to the start of game one, the Thunder softball program honored Gracey Rockness, Shylah Dozeman, Livi Figueroa, Mia Reinhard, and Tori Barbar for "Senior Day" as today's contest concludes Wheaton's slate of home dates for the 2026 season. The Vikings swept the Thunder as NPU won the first game 11-1 and the guests won the second game 15-6 in six innings.
 
The Vikings struck early in game one, scoring two runs each in their first two innings to take a 4-0 lead headed into the bottom of the second. Wheaton would respond when Bella Giles, Soleil Weaver, and Ava Hartnett drew walks to load the bases, and a bases-loaded free pass to Amaya Daniels forced in a run, trimming the deficit to 4-1. Nonetheless, the Vikings continued their efficient outing at the plate, scoring one run in the fourth, two runs in the sixth, and capped it off with four runs in the seventh to pull away with an 11-1 victory.
 
The Vikings tallied thirteen hits in the first contest while North Park's pitching and defense limited the Thunder to three hits. Individually, Makena Malecha, Hartnett, and Reinhard each had a hit in the contest while Dozeman got the nod in the circle, going 5 ⅔ innings with one strikeout.
 
In game two, the Vikings' offensive firepower carried over from the first game as they scored nine runs through two innings of play. Despite the large deficit, the Thunder offense came to life in the fourth inning when Cate Welch drove in a RBI-single to allow Dozeman to score. Abby Whitehead would provide the second run of the game via a sacrifice fly which drove in Figueroa. After North Park responded with four runs in the top of the fifth, the hosts answered with four runs of their own. Wheaton loaded the bases with Weaver, Dozeman and Figueroa, Welch doubled down the line, scoring Dozeman and Weaver. It was followed by RBI-singles from Whitehead and Hartnett to cut the lead to 13-6. However, the Vikings put up two insurance runs in the sixth and the Thunder could not match, allowing the Vikings to secure the game-two win via the run rule.
 
The Vikings tallied eighteen hits in the contest while the Thunder had seven. Welch went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI. Dozeman pitched the majority of the game, going 5 1⁄3 innings and fanning a batter.
 
Wheaton will enter their final week of the regular season with two road doubleheaders. They play a rescheduled doubleheader at University of Olivet on April 28. The team concludes its season with a doubleheader at Millikin on May 2.