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

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Apr. 23, 2016 – Improving to 11-4 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play to sit atop the standings, the North Central College baseball team cruised to a 12-1 win in game one of the twin bill on Saturday, before scraping out a 5-4 walkoff win in 12 innings in the nightcap to complete the season sweep over Wheaton College.
 
Wheaton (19-14, 7-8 CCIW) opened the first game with a run in the top of the first, but that lead did not last long as North Central (23-5, 11-4 CCIW) countered with a five run bottom half of the inning.  Jeremy Quade jump-started the inning by beating out a dribbler to the pitcher and taking second on a throwing error on the play.
 
Sing Fong quickly knotted the score 1-1 with a RBI single through the left side, scoring Quade, while Bobby Smith walked to put runners on first and second still with no outs.  Chris Hill reached on yet another Thunder error, while Fong was able to score on the play to give North Central a 2-1 lead.
 
Two batters later, Nick Sotiros was hit by a pitch to load the bases, while David Rico promptly uncleared the bases with a double to deep right left center, plating the pair and increasing the Cardinal lead 5-1.
 
Cardinal starter Evan Blunk settled in after the first inning, allowing just three hits over the next four innings while striking out a pair, and left the ballgame after five innings with a 12-1 lead.
 
North Central plated three more runs in the second as Smith and Hill each singled with one out to kicks start the rally.  After the pair pulled off a perfectly executed double steal, Nick Sotiros drove home the pair two batters later with a clutch two-out double down the left field line.  After a Wheaton pitching change, Rico gave the Cardinals some more run support with a two-out triple to right center, his second extra base hit in as many innings.
 
The Cardinals continued to pour on the offense, adding a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth as Quade got in on the action, lining a two-RBI double past the third baseman and came around to score on a double play two batters later.
 
Blunk earned the win to improve to 4-0 this season, while Zack Hamaker and Nick Rogalski tossed the final two innings in the seven-inning shortened game, combining for three strikeouts.
 
The Cardinal offense racked up 15 hits in the opener, led by Hill's 3-for-4 performance, while Rico was 2-for-3 with four RBI.  Smith also finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored, while Matt Sutherland was also 2-for-3 with a run scored.  Quade added a 2-for-4 performance from the plate to go along with two runs scored and two driven in, while Fong also added a pair of hits.
 
Nick Mailman was the lone Wheaton batter with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with the only run scored.

The Thunder jumped on the board with an early first inning run once again in game two, but North Central responded with three runs in the bottom of the second as Hill and Mateja each singled to lead off the inning.  Nick Sotiros followed with a double to right, scoring Hill, while Rico plated Mateja with a sacrifice fly to right field the following batter.  After advancing to third on Rico's sacrifice fly, Nick Sotiros trotted home on Dan Sotiros' sacrifice the next batter, giving North Central a 3-1 lead.
 
That lead lasted until the fifth when Mailman delivered a RBI base hit up the middle for Wheaton, trimming the Cardinal lead 3-2.
 
After stranding runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth, and running themselves out of the seventh inning, the Cardinal lead quickly vanished in the top of the eighth as Wheaton tied up the score with a RBI single from Andrew Laucella.  Still threatening with runners on second and third with one out, Bryan Polowy was summoned out of the Cardinal bullpen to retire two of the three batters he faced to keep the score knotted 3-3.
 
Despite the rough top half of the eighth, the Cardinals regained composure in the bottom of the inning as Mateja line a one-out double down the left field line.  Nick Sotiros grounded out to shortstop the following batter and in an attempt to nab Mateja at third, the Wheaton first baseman airmailed the third allowing Mateja to score while giving North Central a 4-3 lead heading into the ninth.
 
With Polowy back out for the ninth, John McKenna popped up what looked like the first out of the inning on the infield, but was dropped by the Cardinal defense, allowing McKenna to take second base.  After two quick outs, Wheaton was down to their last strike until Mailman delivered yet again with a triple in the right center field gap, once again tying the score 4-4. 
 
The drama was far from over however, as Josh Kimmel sent a slow roller to first that was fielded cleanly but was called safe on the play as the first base umpire said Polowy pulled his foot off the bag on the throw.  After a visit from head coach Ed Mathey, the umpires converged and decided to overturn the call, making that the final out of the inning and sending the game to the bottom of the ninth.
 
The Cardinals were in business in the bottom of the ninth after Austin Wheatley was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a Quade single down the right field line.  That momentum was quickly taken away by the Thunder as Nick Johnson forced Kyle Piotrowski to bounce into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
 
Both teams went scoreless over the first two extra frames and after holding Wheaton in the top of the 12^th, a one-out Wheaton error allowed Piotrowski to reach.  Smith quickly followed with a double down the left field line, advancing Piotrowski to third.  After Wheaton intentionally walked Hill to load the bases, Mateja sent the Cardinals home winners with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Mike Noesen and clinching the series sweep.

Hill reached base in nine of his 10 plate appearances over the two games, going for-for-5 with a walk and a run scored in game two.  Mateja finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI.
 
Nick Anderson earned the win out of the bullpen, allowing no runs on just three hits over his three innings to improve to 4-1 this season.
 
Mailman was 4-for-4 with a walk, hit by pitch, two runs scored and two RBI in the nightcap, finishing 6-for-8 on the day while reaching base eight times.
 
North Central is back in action on Tuesday, Apr. 26, taking on Wabash College at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood, Ill. at 7 p.m.