Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Emily Bonga's three-run walk off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the nightcap gave Wheaton a 9-8 win and a doubleheader sweep of Augustana Saturday at Carver Field. The Thunder, 17-12 overall and 7-1 in the CCIW, won the opener 12-1. The 22nd-ranked Vikings fell to 20-11-1 on the season and 4-6 in the conference.
 
WHEATON 12, AUGUSTANA 1
 
Wheaton broke open a close game with four runs in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth to take the opener.
 
It was just 2-0 going to the fifth, when a leadoff walk to Julia Arthur and an RBI double by Alyssa Leonard plated the Thunder's third run. Another base hit knocked out Augustana starter Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.) in favor of freshman Shelby Grandt (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.), but Katie Thornton delivered a two-run double and Bonga singled in another run to make it 6-0. Jenna Teson's (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) fielder's choice grounder knocked in pinch runner Jennifer Gray (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) with the Vikings only run in the bottom of the frame.
 
Christina Sandstedt's two-run double was the big hit in a six-run Wheaton sixth. Thunder reliever Abby Butler retired Augustana without incident in the bottom of the sixth to end the game an inning early.
 
Ashley Anderson suffered the loss, falling to 7-5 on the year. Junior catcher Jordan Marshall (Galesburg HS, St. Augustine, Ill.) went 2-for-2 at the plate. Thornton went the first four innings and got the win for Wheaton.
 
WHEATON 9, AUGUSTANA 8
 
The Thunder answered home runs by freshman Zayne Blumberg (Rock Canyon HS, Denver, Colo.) and Teson with long balls by Lyndsey Pritchard and Bonga to pull out the nightcap.
 
Blumberg's three-run shot to left in the top of the fifth lifted the Vikings from a 4-3 deficit to a 6-4 advantage. However, Pritchard's two-run bomb to center in the bottom of the frame tied it at 6-all.
 
In the Augustana sixth, senior Laura Behnke (St. Francis HS, Roselle, Ill.) dropped a two-out triple down the left field line and Teson followed with a blast over the right field fence for an 8-6 Viking lead.
 
Both teams went quietly in their next at-bats, but in the bottom of the seventh, Thornton and Pritchard had consecutive singles to left with one out. That brought Bonga to the plate and she lined an Ashley Anderson offering off the scoreboard in center, giving her team a 9-8 win.
 
Wheaton scored two in the first and Augustana answered with one in the top of the third. The Thunder took advantage of two Viking miscues to plate a pair of unearned runs off starter Kendra Rakers (Belleville West HS, Millstadt, Ill.) in the bottom of the third. Fourth-inning RBI singles by Christie Wiersema (Morrison HS, Morrison, Ill.) and Marshall cut Augustana's deficit to 4-3 after three and a half.
 
Teson was 3-for-4 with three driven in and Blumberg was 2-for-2 with three RBI. Behnke had a pair of hits as well. Ashley Anderson took the loss to fall to 7-6.
 
The Vikings are back in action at Carver Field on Sunday, April 19, hosting North Park in a1:00 p.m. twin bill.