FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Wheaton (Ill.) softball team scored three runs in the eighth inning to edge Penn State Behrend 8-5 in game one, while Wittenberg defeated the Lions 5-3 in the nightcap on Thursday afternoon in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Thunder (6-0) took a 5-0 lead after the first five innings in the opener, but Behrend (2-6) rallied back to score four runs in the sixth and the game-tying run in the seventh to force an extra frame. Kelsey Fuller (Albion, PA/Northwestern) led the Lions on the mound in 7 1/3 innings and went 2-for-4, while driving in the tying run.

Ashley Gruber (Burton, OH/Berkshire), who pinched hit in the fourth inning, hit a two run single to get Behrend within one run of Wheaton. She also went 2-for-4 with a double in game two, but the Lions fell by two runs.

In the second game, Behrend scored three runs on nine hits and put up two early runs for the lead. The Tigers (7-3) put up three runs in the third and two more in the sixth to seal the victory.

Fuller and Sydney Sherrieb (Washington, PA/Trinity) each went 2-for-3 from the plate, while Callie Markovich (Edinboro, PA/Northwestern) was 3-for-4 with an RBI single after Gruber's double in the third.

The Lions return to action on Friday against Finlandia and Eastern Nazarene.  Game one begins at 1 p.m.