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Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

DECATUR, Ill. (Apr. 6, 2010) - A pair of big innings propelled the North Central College baseball team to a pair of victories over Millikin University on Tuesday, as the Cardinals opened with a 7-2 victory before rallying for a 9-6 win in the nightcap at Sunnyside Park.

The Cardinals (15-3, 4-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) jumped ahead early in the first game of the day, scoring their first run on a single by Andrew Wulbecker in the second inning before stringing together five runs in the fourth.

The first three North Central batters in the fourth drew walks, paving the way for RBI singles by Matt Burke, Peter Romanello and Nick Robinson and a two-run single by Wulbecker. The Cardinals kept Millikin off the board until a pair of two-out runs in the seventh cut the visitors' lead to 6-2.

Brennan Hagensee led off the eight with a single and later scored the game's final run on a wild pitch. The Big Blue loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, but relief pitcher Kevin Krajewski set the next three batters down to close out the game.

Hagensee went 3 for 3 at the plate with three runs scored, while Matt Abraham went 2 for 3 and Wulbecker was 2 for 4. TJ Hecimovich got the win in his first collegiate start, scattering 10 hits and allowing one earned run in six innings while striking out six and walking one.

Millikin (3-16, 0-5 CCIW) turned the tables early in the second game, scoring five runs in the first inning. Four of the Big Blue's runs came with two outs. North Central did get one run back in the top of the second on a single by Romanello.

In the fourth inning, the Cardinals took advantage of a walk, a balk and a stolen base to score a run on Wulbecker's groundout without recording a hit. Dan Scott doubled and scored on Joe Turek's single in the fifth, and Scott scored again on Michael Corrigan's single in the seventh to narrow the gap to 5-4.

North Central completed its comeback in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs before taking its first lead on a two-run base hit by Corrigan. Turek followed with an RBI single and Steve Hlavac turned in an RBI double and Burke plated a run with a sacrifice fly.

Corrigan finished the game 3 for 4 at the plate, while Robinson and Turek each went 3 for 5 and Scott went 2 for 4 with three runs scored. Micah Yarbrough drew the start and pitched four innings, yielding five runs on five hits. Ricky Foytik pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn his first win of the season.

The Cardinals host Elmhurst College (3-11, 0-3 CCIW) in a double header on Saturday, beginning at noon.