Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302Box ScorePort Charlotte, Fla. (Mar. 18, 2016) – The North Central College baseball team continued their success on the season, winning their first game of a six-game spring trip in Florida by a score of 9-3 against Nichols College.
North Central (4-0) would take an early 1-0 lead in the second as
Michael Mateja started the inning with a lead-off single and would reach third thanks to two balks shortly after.
Dan Sotiros would reach on a fielder's choice, allowing Mateja to score.
The Cardinal lead vanished as Nichols tacked on three runs in the bottom of the second. Four hits and a North Central error would allow the Bison to take a 3-1 lead after two. The Cardinals reclaimed the lead after scoring three runs of their own on four hits. After a
Sing Fong single and a
Chris Hill double, Mateja drove in the pair with a two-RBI single. A
Nick Sotiros double would advance Mateja to third before
Dan Sotiros would drive him home thanks to a groundout to the right side.
In the fifth, the Cardinals would tack on another two runs with Nick and
Dan Sotiros each driving in a run. For good measure, North Central tallied three more runs in the eighth, putting the game well out of reach. The first four batters for the Cardinals reached base with Fong recording a RBI double, followed by a
Bobby Smith two-RBI double. North Central's pitching and defense would keep the Bison offense quiet as the Cardinals would continue their success and win their fourth game in a row.
Smith, Mateja, and
Dan Sotiros would each record two RBI's as
Nick Anderson earned his second win of the season, allowing only one earned run on nine hits throwing 5.1 innings.
Austin Polezoes would pick up the two inning save, allowing only one hit in the final two frames.
North Central continues their trip tomorrow against Salem State. Game time is slated for 8:30 am.
