Carol Stream, Ill. - Dominant pitching carried the Wheaton College baseball team to a pair of shutouts on Saturday, earning wins of 2-0 and 5-0 over Millikin University.
The Thunder (16-12 overall, 6-6 CCIW) have now won five straight games. The Big Blue fell to 7-20 overall, 3-9 in conference.
Game one turned into a pitcher's duel between Wheaton's Drew Golz and Millikin Logan Bolton. Golz stranded four runners in his first two innings and then settled in to keep the Big Blue off the board the rest of the way. Bolton mixed his speeds and employed a big, sweeping curveball on about half his pitches to keep Wheaton's hitters off balance.
The home team found its way onto the scoreboard in the third inning. Desmond Cato led off the frame with a triple to the right field wall and then was promptly knocked in by Ryan Miller's double to left center. Despite loading the bases with no outs in the fourth, Wheaton could not push across a run as Bolton enduced three-straight popups.
Both pitchers kept throwing zeros from there until the eighth inning. Millikin committed an error to start things off and Phillip Tuttle made them pay with an opposite-field single to score a crucial run.
That was enough for Golz (6-1), who closed out with his fifth complete game and his second shutout on the year. The senior lefty got plenty of swings and misses against his biting curveball, striking out eight while only allowing five hits and one walk.
Wheaton's offense tallied 11 hits, but left nine runners on base. Miller was the catalyst with three doubles in his 3-for-4 showing at the plate. Justin Swider and Tuttle were each 2-for-4.
Bolton (2-6) took the loss in eight innings of work, striking out five and walking one.
Game two unfolded a lot like game one as both starting pitchers were on their game. Matt MaLossi (3-2) toed the rubber for the Thunder and dispatched the Big Blue batters over the course of five innings, only allowing two hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
The Thunder got things rolling in its first at bat. With two runners on, Austin Driggers bounced a fielder's choice to second base, and Miller alertly rounded third base and slid into home when the defense lost track of him.
Trey Martin added to the lead in the fourth inning by crushing a fastball over the left field fence for a solo home run. The Thunder loaded the bases once again that inning, but could not increase its advantage until the eighth inning. John Jensen-Johnson drove in a run with a single up the middle in the eighth and Miller brought around two more with a hard single to the same spot.
With a 5-0 lead in hand, Martin put down Millikin's batters in order to earn the save in the ninth inning. Martin ended up with a perfect two innings, totaling three strikeouts. Miles Veth threw a pair of innings before him, allowing one hit with one strikeout. MaLossi ended up with the victory as Millikin's batters only had three hits in the game.
The Thunder bats managed eight hits and stranded nine more runners. Martin was 3-for-3 at the plate, with Miller going 2-for-5.
Evan West (3-3) took the loss, allowing six hits, two runs and two walks in his seven innings.
The Thunder continue the homestand with a non-conference game versus Concordia University Chicago, starting at 3 PM on Tuesday.