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

Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. (Apr. 29, 2016) – Seeing their five-game win streak come to an end, the North Central College baseball team dropped the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) series opener 5-1 at Elmhurst College on Friday as the offense struggled to gain momentum the entire afternoon.
 
The Cardinals (24-6, 11-5 CCIW) actually jumped on the board first with a run in the top of the second as Michael Mateja singled to center with one out while Nick Sotiros followed with a double down the left field line to get the rally started.  David Rico followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Mateja and giving North Central a 1-0 lead.
 
That would prove to be all the scoring the Cardinal offense would muster however, as the Bluejays (18-15, 7-9 CCIW) responded with five unanswered runs.  Elmhurst took the lead in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of two Cardinal throwing errors to plate a pair of runs.
 
Elmhurst added to their lead with a Ben Havel RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, while plating two more unearned runs the following inning to take a 5-1 lead.
 
Bluejay starter Mike Rostine finished what he starter, keeping the Cardinals in check all afternoon, scattering eight hits over his nine innings, allowing just the one run while striking out three.
 
Jordan Van Dyck was credited with his first loss of the season, allowing five runs, three earned, on 10 hits over six innings pitched.
 
Chris Hill was the lone Cardinal with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4, while Nick Sotiros' second inning double tied the program's single-season record of 18 set in 1996.
 
North Central will look to finish the three-game series against Elmhurst on Sunday, May 1 with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. at Zimmerman Stadium.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.