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Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

DECATUR, Ill. (Mar. 29, 2014) – Taking advantage of solid starting pitching and timely hitting, the North Central College baseball team opened the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play with a doubleheader sweep of Millikin University, winning the opener 9-2 before taking game two, 9-5.
 
The Cardinals have racked up 34 runs in the last three games, while outscoring opponents by 26 runs en route to its current three-game win streak.
 
In the opener, the Cardinals (10-4, 2-0 CCIW) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, plating all five runs in the top of the second inning.  North Central strung together three straight hits to start the inning as John Ciolkosz led off with a double, followed by a Sam Carius single.  With runners on the corners, Sam Klein came through with an RBI single to score Ciolkosz and put the Cardinals on the board.
 
Two batters later, Zach Jarosz was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Alex Khoury followed with a bases loaded walk, scoring Carius.  The Cardinal offense continued to catch fire as Vito DeRango and Joe Paparone followed with back-to-back RBI singles, while Zac Pacanowski capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
North Central increased its lead to 7-0 with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, putting together four straight singles including RBI base hits off the bats of Paparone and Pacanowski.
 
The seven run cushion would be more than enough run support for North Central starter Ben Krusen as the junior improved to 4-0 on the season, giving up two earned runs over 8 innings pitched, striking out seven and walking just one Big Blue batter.
 
The Cardinal offense stung Millikin starting pitcher Max Paolicchi to the tune of seven earned runs over 3 1/3 innings.  DeRango led all Cardinal batters with three hits in game one, while Paparone and Pacanowski each drove home a pair.  Jake Rone finished 2 for 4 from the plate with a walk and a run scored.  Ciolkosz finished 2 for 5 from the dish, adding the Cardinals first homerun of the season with a solo shot in the eighth.
 
North Central's offensive outburst continued in the nightcap as the Cardinals put up another nine runs. Klein got the scoring started in the top of the second, leading off with a single and scoring later in the inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jarosz to give North Central an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Big Blue (4-10, 0-2 CCIW) countered with a run in the bottom of the second, but North Central responded right back with a three-run third.  Paparone reached on an error to leadoff the inning and wound up at second on a Millikin throwing error later in the inning.  With two outs, Sam Carius stepped up to the plate and lined a double to left, scoring Paparone.  After Carius advanced to third on a wild pitch, Klein launched his first homerun of the season over the left field fence, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. 
 
In the top of the following inning, the Cardinals put up another crooked number on the scoreboard as Vito DeRango plated a pair on a double to left, putting the Cardinals ahead 6-2.
 
The offensive outburst continued in the top of the sixth as Alex Khoury walked to lead off the inning.  Two batters later, Paparone sent a long ball flying over the right field fence to give North Central a six run lead.
 
North Central would add an additional insurance run in the top of the seventh and hold off a late Millikin run to secure the 9-5 victory.
 
Kris Singh improves to 2-0 on the season, tossing seven innings of three run ball, striking out a career-high 13 batters while walking just two.
 
Klein led all batters in game two, going 4 for 5 from the plate with two RBI and three runs scored.  Ciolkosz added two more hits in the nightcap, going 2 for 5 from the dish.
 
North Central looks to complete the series sweep tomorrow, as game three of the season series is slated for 1 pm at Sunnyside Park.  Links to live stats and video are available HERE.