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Bluejay Baseball Team Completes Sweep of Wheaton
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
WHEATON, Ill. - The Elmhurst College baseball team completed a three-game series sweep over Wheaton College by sweeping a doubleheader. The Bluejays scored a combined 40 runs over the two games, winning 14-10 and 26-19. The Bluejays moved to 12-13 overall and 8-6 in the CCIW with the wins.
ELMHURST 14, WHEATON 10 (Game One) - Elmhurst jumped out to a 10-3 lead before Wheaton plated seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to even the game. Elmhurst put the game away in extra innings by scoring four in the eighth inning. In the eighth, Nick Sharkey (Bolingbrook/H.S.) cracked an RBI single and Tom Rhein (Worth/Brother Rice) followed with a two-run triple to put Elmhurst in control.
Rhein finished 3-for-4 at the plate with four runs scored and four driven in. Sharkey recorded two hits and scored three runs to go along with his two RBI. Mike Goltz (Neenah, Wis./H.S.) (2-for-4) and Jim Deschamps (Glenview/Glenbard South) (1-for-3) each drove in a pair in the win for the Bluejays.
Nick Ferrin (Lake Forest/H.S.) notched the win in relief, improving to 3-1 in the process. Ferrin scattered four hits and one earned run in 3.1 innings pitched. He walked one and fanned three.
ELMHURST 26, WHEATON 17 (Game Two) - The Thunder and the Bluejays combined for a whipping 56 hits, establishing a new CCIW and NCAA record in the process. The two teams broke the previous record of 55 hits in a game set by Elmhurst (30) and North Park (25) on April 24, 1993. The 56 hits is an NCAA Division III record for combined hits by two teams in a nine-inning game. It is also the second-highest single-game total in the history of Division III, just one hit shy of the 57 hits collected by Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands in 1997. The record was set by Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands on April 27, 1997 in a 10-inning game. The two teams also combined to drive in 42 runs, the eighth-highest single-game total in NCAA Division III history.
Elmhurst followed an eight-run third inning with a seven-run effort in the fourth inning to take a 20-6 lead. Wheaton rallied back, scoring eight times in the sixth to cut the Elmhurst lead to 20-14. After Elmhurst scored a run in the top of the seventh, the Thunder responded with five, bringing Elmhurst's lead down to just two runs at 21-19. The Bluejays sealed the win with a five-run ninth inning.
Goltz sparked the Bluejays in the third inning with a three-run blast while Brett Lilley's (Rochester Hills, Mich./H.S.) bases clearing double in the fourth, sparked the eight-run frame.
Goltz finished 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs, adding a solo shot in the seventh inning. Goltz scored three times and drove in four. Rhein finished 4-for-5 at the plate, scoring four runs and driving in four. Deschamps finished 3-for-4 with a home run, four runs scored and two runs driven in. Anthony Contaldo (Sleepy Hollow/Dundee-Crown) finished with four hits, including three doubles. He scored a pair of runs and drove in three. Greg Williams (Chesterfield, Mo./Christian Brothers) totaled four hits, scored four runs and drove in a pair. Lilley added three hits to go along with three runs scored and four driven in. Pat Meginniss finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBI. Every Elmhurst starter finished the game with at least one hit and one RBI.
Despite being tagged for 14 hits and nine runs in 5.1 innings, Steve Huisel (Gurnee/Warren) picked up the win. He walked one and struck out seven. Kyle Bjerga (Lombard/Glenbard East) tossed the final 2.2 innings, allowing only one run to earn the save.
Elmhurst hosts the University of Chicago in a doubleheader on Sunday, April 22.
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