FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
AUBURNDALE, Fla. (Mar. 25, 2015) - The North Central College baseball team appeared to have the University of of Wisconsin-Oshkosh' number early in Wednesday's Spring Break Finale at Lake Myrtle Park, but a 7-3 advantage proved not enough to put the Titans away as the Cardinals were overtaken by a score of 11-8.
North Central dropped to 3-3 on their trip to Florida and 7-7 on the season as it managed just one run on three hits in the final five innings while the Titans (6-4) pulled ahead with seven unanswered runs late in the game to win for the sixth straight time.
After yielding a run in the second inning, the Cardinals got on the board in the third as Nick Brandt scored on an infield single by Joe Paparone and Vito DeRango drove in Sam Klein on a sacrifice fly. Oshkosh scored twice on four hits in the bottom of the inning, though Paparone prevented a third Titan run by throwing a runner out at home plate from right field.
North Central responded in the fourth with a five-run rally to take control. Bobby Smith led off the inning with a walk and later scored on Sam Carius' single. Brandt, Klein and Paparone followed with base hits on the next three at-bats, with Klein and Paparone driving in runs, before the pair both crossed the plate following DeRango's two-out single.
After pulling starting pitcher Ben Messenger, the Titans brought out reliever Jesse Sustachek, who wound up pitching the rest of the game. He yielded just one run on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, giving Oshkosh a chance to get back into contention. After plating a run in the fifth, the Titans drew three walks and collected two hits in the sixth to score four times and regain the lead at 8-7, then added a pair of two-out runs in the seventh.
Klein scored on an RBI groundout by Jake Rone in the eighth before the Titans scored the game's final run on a sacrifice fly in the home half of the inning.
Brandt went 3 for 4 at the plate with three runs scored, while Klein finished 3 for 5 as the Cardinals established their second-highest single-game hit total of the young season.
North Central will play at home for the first time in 2015 on Saturday, opening College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play by hosting defending CCIW champion Augustana College in a double header. Play at Zimmerman Stadium is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
