FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324Box Score
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (Apr. 26, 2014) – The North Central College baseball team claimed game one of a crucial three-game series with Wheaton College, 6-1 Friday night at Lee Pfund Stadium, as the Cardinals are just one game from the top of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) standings.
The Cardinal offense jumped on Wheaton (18-15, 8-8 CCIW) starting pitcher Evan Rahn for four runs in the top of the second inning as
Sam Klein led off the inning with a triple to left center and came around to score on a wild pitch later in the inning. Two batters later,
Zac Pacanowski plated the second Cardinal run on a RBI groundout to shortstop.
Alex Khoury followed with a walk and proceeded to steal second, forcing a Wheaton error and allowing
John Ciolkosz to score on the play.
Nick DeWolf followed with a RBI single, scoring Khoury and giving North Central the early 4-0 lead.
The Cardinals (20-10, 10-5 CCIW) added a run in each of the next two innings as Pacanowski plated a run on his second RBI groundout of the game in the top of the third and
Joe Paparone increased the Cardinal lead to 6-0 with a run-scoring double in the top of the fourth.
The six-run cushion would be more than enough for Cardinal starter
Ben Krusen, tossing all nine innings en route to his second complete game of the season, striking out a career-high 12 batters while giving up just one earned run, taking a shutout into the eighth inning.
Paparone, Klein and DeWolf each finished with a pair of hits on the evening while Pacanowski drove in two runs.
The two teams square off again tomorrow with game one of a doubleheader slated for 12 pm at Zimmerman Stadium. Links to live audio and statistics are available
HERE.
