Carol Stream, Ill. - The Wheaton baseball team rallied from a late deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over Saint Mary's University (Minn.) on Friday night at Lee Pfund Stadium. Wheaton pushed across runs in the seventh and eighth innings to improve to 6-4 this season. The Cardinals fall to 4-8 on the season. Wheaton will host two more games on Saturday night, facing Alma College at 2 pm and Aurora University at 5 pm.

Pitchers dominated the day on a chilly Friday night. Nick Johnson earned the win for the Thunder, pitching two perfect innings of relief with one strikeout. Michael McCraith earned a tough no decision with seven innings of work, allowing two runs, one earned, on just four hits with five strikeouts. Cardinal starter Jacob Green matched McCraith over seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts.

Neither team threatened until the fourth inning of the game, with the Cardinals taking advantage of a pair of Thunder errors to push across the game's first run. Wheaton answered quickly in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ben Brittain led off the inning with a walk and later scored on Seth Meyer's single to center field, tying the game once again.

The Cardinals manufactured a run in the top of the sixth inning to retake the lead, but McCraith closed the inning with a big strikeout to strand an insurance run at third base. Wheaton threatened in the bottom of the inning with a Johnny Peltz double, but could not cash in to even the score.

Wheaton did pull even in the bottom of the seventh after Clay Morrison started the rally with a one-out triple to center field. Jacob Garrity followed with a sacrifice fly to score pinch runner Luke Roudabush and tie the score at 2-2.

Wheaton rallied for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning off Cardinal reliever John Kramlinger, starting the inning with a hit by pitch and a walk before Brittain singled to left to load the bases. After another pitching change, Peltz coaxed a walk to bring home Nick Mailman with the go-ahead run. Johnson slammed the door in the top of the ninth inning to earn the victory.

Clay Morrison was the only player for either team to have a multi-hit game, recording a double and a triple. Nick Mailman led the Thunder offense with two stolen bases.