WHEATON, Ill. – Wheaton jumped on Augustana early in game one and scored late in game two Monday, defeating the Vikings 10-2 and 12-2 in a doubleheader at Ruth Leedy Field. Augustana fell to 3-11 on the season and 0-6 in the CCIW, while the host Thunder improved to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
WHEATON 10, AUGUSTANA 2
Wheaton gave starter Emilie Gist all the runs she would need with a four-run first in the opener. The first three Thunder batters reached to load the bases.
Cecelia Peine (Holt HS, Wentzville, Mo.) fanned Melissa Meiners, but Claire Busch followed with a three-run double to right. Paige Andrews doubled in Busch to make it 4-0 after one.
Busch added a two-run single in a three-run second and Elise O'Neil had a solo homer as Wheaton tacked on two in the third to make it 9-0.
Ashlyn Mathers' (Pomona HS, Westminster, Colo.) two-run homer in the top of the fourth got the Vikings on the board.
Andrews scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth to make it 10-2 and Gist set Augustana down in order in the top of the fifth to end the game early.
Gist (4-2) gave up five hits and one walk, striking out six in a complete-game win. Peine went two innings and suffered her third loss in as many decisions.
WHEATON 12, AUGUSTANA 2
It was the Vikings who jumped on top in the nightcap.
Starter
Erin Smith (Columbine HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) kept the Thunder off the board in the first two innings and
Madison Shaw (Hononegah HS, South Beloit, Ill.) drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the second.
Claire Weeks' (Dundee-Crown HS, Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) double to center plated Shaw with the game's first run and
Claudia Buchholz (Kettle Moraine HS, Waukesha, Wis.) singled in Weeks to make it 2-0.
Wheaton took advantage of three Augustana errors to take the lead with three runs in the top of the third and Alex Hilton singled in a run in the fourth. The Thunder put it out of reach with an eight-run fifth. Madison Forberg singled in Meiners to push the margin to 12-2.
Ashley Carter threw a 1-2-3 fifth to finish off the complete game. She allowed four hits, walked one and fanned one to pick up her second win in three decisions. Smith went four innings and took the loss, falling to 1-3. Just five of the nine runs she allowed were earned.
Weeks went 2-for-2 at the plate.
The Vikings travel to Decatur, Illinois on Friday, April 2 to take on Millikin in a 1:00 p.m. twin bill.
