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Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 21, 2013) – It was a tale of two games Sunday afternoon at Zimmerman Stadium, as the North Central College baseball team split a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader against North Park University, falling in the opener 9-0 before bouncing back with a 6-0 complete game shutout from Ben Krusen in the nightcap.
 
In game one, the Vikings (16-15, 9-6 CCIW) broke open a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth, scoring seven runs on seven singles while taking advantage of one Cardinal error.
 
North Park starting pitcher Wesley Mleziva shut down the Cardinal lineup to improve to 4-1 on the season, scattering just five hits over eight shutout innings while striking out eight.
 
In the nightcap, North Central starter Ben Krusen turned in yet another stellar pitching performance, giving up only six hits and one walk over nine shutout innings while striking out 10.  24-of-27 outs came via groundball or strikeout as Krusen had the Viking batters off balance all afternoon.
 
The Cardinals (13-15, 6-9 CCIW) gave Krusen all the run support he needed, scoring a run in each of the first three innings.  John Ciolkosz lined a pair of RBI-singles in the first and third innings, respectively, to give the hosts a 3-0 lead after three.
 
North Central scraped together a two-out insurance run in the bottom of the seventh as Bobby Norell blooped a single to center field followed by a run scoring double off the bat of Sam Klein, increasing the Cardinal lead 4-0.
 
Leading off the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Hennessy sent a solo shot over the left field fence, his third homerun of the season.  Ciolkosz would follow with his third base hit of the game and would score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Zac Pacanowski.
 
Ciolkosz led all batters going 3-for-4 from the plate in game two with 2-RBI.  Vito DeRango was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored, while Nick Daniels also had two hits.
 
North Central returns to action Tuesday, Apr. 23, traveling to Dominican University at 3 p.m.