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

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. (Apr. 5, 2014) – The North Central College baseball team split a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader with North Park University contested at the Holmgren Complex, as the Cardinals dropped game one, 6-3 before responding with a 5-2 victory in the nightcap.
 
In the opener the Viking (14-8, 5-2 CCIW) offense came out firing, taking a 6-1 lead after five innings as North Park jumped on Cardinal starter Ben Krusen for six runs, four earned, handing Krusen his first loss of the season.
 
North Central (13-6, 5-2 CCIW) rallied in the top of the seventh, plating a pair of runs as Alex Khoury and Joe Paparone each delivered RBI doubles, but the Cardinal offense sputtered over the final to innings, ultimately falling 6-3.
 
Sam Carius finished the opener 2 for 5 from the plate including his first homerun of the season, a solo shot in the top of the second.  Sam Klein also added a pair of hits for the Cardinals in game one.
 
In game two, North Central found itself down early yet again, trailing 1-0 after the first inning.
 
The Cardinals responded with a run in the top half of the following inning, as Nick DeWolf scored Carius on a squeeze bunt to knot the score 1-1.
 
In the top of the third the Cardinals took its first lead of the ballgame as Jake Rone doubled home Zac Pacanowski with two outs after leading off the inning with a walk.
 
The Cardinal lead would not last long as the Vikings tied the score with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Cardinal pitcher Kris Singh buckled down after that to hold the Vikings scoreless while giving up just one hit over the final five innings.  Singh improves to 3-0 this season, completing his second game of the year, striking out 12 Viking batters in the process.  Singh has struck out 12 or more batters in three of four starts this season.
 
The Cardinal offense plated a run in each of the fifth, eighth and ninth innings to take the 5-2 victory.  Sam Klein smacked his second homerun of the season in the top of the ninth and finished game two with a pair of hits. 
 
Five Cardinals finished with multiple hits as the Cardinals totaled 14 hits in the nightcap.  Pacanowski led the way going 3 for 4 from the plate, walking once with a RBI and a run scored.  Jake Rone was 3 for 5 from the dish with a pair of RBI.
 
The two teams square off tomorrow in the rubber match at Zimmerman Stadium, with the first pitch slated for 1 pm.