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

Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. (May 8, 2014) – Haunted by a five-run bottom of the fifth inning, the North Central College baseball team dropped the opening game of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament to top-seeded Augustana College, 6-3 at Swanson Stadium.
 
In its first postseason appearance since 2011, the Cardinals (24-14) took an early lead, plating a pair of first inning runs of Augustana starter Seth Davis.  Sam Carius led off the inning with a walk, followed by a single to center off the bat of Jake Rone.  After each runner advanced on a wild pitch, Vito DeRango stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered a run-scoring single to center, plating both runners while giving North Central a 2-0 lead.
 
The Vikings (29-10) returned the favor with a run in the bottom of the third to trim the lead in half, as Jacob Van Duyne plated Trace Gingerich, who reached on an error to leadoff the inning.
 
North Central countered in the top half of the next inning as Nick DeWolf lined a RBI double to left center, gaining back the run lost the previous inning.
 
The contest took a turn for the worse in the bottom of the fifth for the Cardinals, as Augustana roughed up starter Ben Krusen for five runs on five hits to go along with one Cardinal error.  After leading off the inning with Kyle Lenihan reaching on an error, the Vikings strung together four straight hits, including two doubles to quickly turn the game around and take a 6-3 lead.
 
Davis settled in nicely for the Vikings, as the junior held the Cardinals hitless over the final five innings, striking out eight over that span.  Davis struck out 12 batters over his nine innings pitched, completing the game while improving to 5-2 on the season.
 
Krusen falls to 6-3 on the season, giving up six runs, three earned, while striking out eight over eight innings pitched.
 
DeWolf and Rone each collected a pair of hits, while Alex Khoury was 1 for 2 with two walks.
 
North Central will take on North Park University in a must-win contest tomorrow at 12 pm at Swanson Stadium.  The link to live statistics is available HERE.