Carol Stream, Ill. -- Following multiple weather-related schedule rearrangements this week, the Thunder baseball team returned to competitive action on Friday six days after its last outing. Wheaton welcomed North Central College to Pfund Stadium one day before the two sides were originally set to meet, with today's doubleheader being played in mild and breezy conditions. The hosts claimed a pair of wins over their fellow suburban visitors, taking Friday's first matchup, 3-1, before rallying for a dramatic 9-8 victory in the second game. Wheaton improved to 12-11 overall and currently tops the CCIW standings at 5-2 as a result of this afternoon's wins, while North Central dropped to an even 11-11 with a 4-4 mark in league play.
The Cardinals came into Friday's twinbill having won eight of their last nine games and scoring 85 runs in that span. But the Thunder nullified their guests' high-flying offense behind a dominant showing from junior pitcher
David Levengood and multiple highlight-worthy fielding plays. The Pennsylvania native did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, and only five North Central players were able to reach first base before that point.
Wheaton seized an early 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard thanks to consecutive doubles from
Tyler Burr and
Braden Engel that scored the former and a ground out RBI that brought the latter across home plate. But these first-inning tallies were not indicative of an offensive showcase to come, as both pitchers took control of the game and kept things ticking with abbreviated innings.
The Thunder made it 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth as
Mason Diel ripped a double down the left field line to bring
Charlie Scofield in to score following Scofield's lead-off extra-base hit. Each team stranded multiple baserunners in the following frames, with impressive snags from Engel and
Jack Gill stymieing the Cardinals' hitters and North Central preventing Wheaton from further padding its lead. A single shot into left field finally broke up Levengood's no-hitter in the middle of the seventh inning, but the Thunder quickly secured a third out to keep the shutout intact.
A solo home run in the top of the ninth finally put the Cardinals on the board. Having been kept quiet for much of the contest, the visitors managed to summon the go-ahead run to the plate in their final batting series following a double and a walk. But Wheaton's experienced closer,
JD Van Hook, held his nerve and struck out a second batter of the last inning to seal the Thunder's low-scoring win with his joint conference-best fifth save of the season.
Wheaton posted six hits to North Central's four in Friday's first fixture, including four doubles. The Thunder offense combined for only one strikeout and three runners left on base, while the Cardinals suffered ten strikeouts and saw seven of their players stranded in the field.
Levengood matched his career high with eight strikeouts and conceded just two hits from the 28 batters he faced, tossing a 7.2-inning shutout before being relieved of his role. The third-year thrower had no wild pitches, no balks, did not hit any batters, and walked only two opponents in a clinical showing on the mound that saw him earn his third win of the year.
Six different players were responsible for Wheaton's six hits in game one, and Diel was the only batter on either team to tally two RBI. Engel contributed the Thunder's other RBI, while
Sean Dmytrowicz stole the contest's lone base.
The second half of Friday's doubleheader saw considerably more offensive production, with the two squads combining for 17 runs and 24 hits. After a scoreless first frame, NCC took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second from a two-RBI single. But the Thunder kept a runner at third to partially limit the damage and nearly opened their own scoring account in the bottom half before seeing two players stranded on base.
After falling behind 3-0 in the next inning, Wheaton exploded for five runs in its subsequent batting series to turn the game on its head. After Engel got on base and
Caleb Schauer singled, Gill (
pictured left) launched a
ground-rule double over the left field wall to score Engel, and Schauer was promptly ushered home via a sac fly.
Gill was brought across the pentagon himself by an RBI single from Dmytrowicz, before a clutch two-RBI hit down the left field line from
Nathan Hedlund scored
Will Clegg and Diel to put the Thunder in front.
Each side fashioned a double play in the fourth inning to keep the scoreline tilted at 5-3 in Wheaton's favor. But a two-run homer in the top of the fifth brought North Central back on level terms. The Thunder would immediately regain the lead in the bottom half, however, as a fielding error allowed Clegg to get on base, and he was eventually scored by
Ryan Cartwright to make it 6-5 to Wheaton.
The Cardinals refused to lie down, and three RBI singles in the sixth frame continued the game's see-saw trajectory, as NCC moved ahead by two runs. Two stranded baserunners for Wheaton in the bottom half moved North Central one step closer to earning a regular season split.
But the Orange and Blue sent two runners back to the dugout themselves in the following series, and the hosts stifled the Cardinals' offense over the final three frames to enable the comeback win. A sacrifice fly RBI by Schauer in the seventh inning scored fellow sophomore
Scott Sanders and brought Wheaton back within one score heading into the last two frames.
After having to settle for a three-up, three-down batting order, the Naperville outfit compensated in the bottom of the eighth inning by stranding the tying run at third base. But North Central's inability to extend its lead would still prove costly, as Wheaton found the two runs it needed in the ninth to complete the sweep.
Hedlund (
pictured right) led off with an extra-base hit that sent him all the way to third. Cartwright wasted no time in immediately completing his senior teammate's trip around the diamond with an RBI single up the middle.
Another single from Schauer moved the catcher into scoring position, and the stage was set for Gill to serve as the game-winner. The sophomore slugger delivered with a lofted base hit high into left field that unsighted the North Central outfielder and dropped with plenty of time to allow Cartwright to reach home plate for the game-deciding run that confirmed Wheaton's position atop the conference standings.
The home side out-hit its visitor by a comfortable 15-9 margin in Friday's second matchup, with both teams committing two errors. North Central drew seven walks and stranded the same number of runners, while Wheaton registered totals of three and 12, respectively. But the Thunder only saw three of their batters strike out and were given first base four times through hit-by-pitch situations.
Gill was an impressive 4-5 at the plate in game two and logged two RBI and one run to power the Thunder offense. He was joined on a pair of RBI by Cartwright and Hedlund, who contributed three hits and two hits, respectively. Schauer also finished with multiple hits, one run, and one RBI. Clegg was the only Wheaton player to score twice and was hit by two pitches, while pinch runner
Hudson Gutwein picked up the only stolen base for the Thunder.
Four different pitchers made an appearance for Wheaton in today's second game.
Carson Grier started on the mound and threw for the first five innings.
Billy Kessler emerged from the bullpen for the final 2.2 frames and improved to 3-0 on the season with an excellent relief routine, tallying four strikeouts and allowing zero hits and runs.
After an exciting and successful start to the holiday weekend, the Wheaton squad will return to Lee Pfund Stadium on the other side of Easter Sunday, as it hosts North Park in another rescheduled fixture. The Thunder and the Vikings will now meet at 6 PM on Monday in Carol Stream before facing each other again in Chicago the following afternoon.
