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

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Apr. 3, 2016 – After the weather forced yesterday's regularly scheduled doubleheader to today, the North Central College baseball team was unable to capture the three game series against Augustana College, winning a marathon game one, 16-10 before falling 6-5 in the nightcap.
 
Despite committing five errors in the opener, the Cardinal offense more than made up for the defensive lapses, plating 16 runs on 15 hits, including a five-run fourth and a eight-run ninth.
 
The Cardinals (12-2, 1-2 CCIW) were the visiting team in game one and fell behind early as Augustana jumped on Cardinal starter Jordan Van Dyck for three runs while taking advantage of two North Central errors in the bottom of the first.
 
The two teams traded runs in the third before North Central's offense came alive to the tune of five runs in the fourth off Viking starter Zach Morgenstern.  Michael Mateja led off the inning with an infield single to shortstop and came around to score shortly after on a Nick Sotiros double to left center.
 
After a Dan Sotiros walk and Sing Fong bunt single loaded the bases, Austin Wheatley drew a bases loaded walk to drive in Nick Sotiros.  A few pitches later, Dan Sotiros came home on a Viking wild pitch, while David Rico plated two more with a double to right center, giving North Central a 6-4 lead.
 
The Vikings (13-7, 2-1 CCIW) narrowed the lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Nick Sotiros claimed that run right back with a mammoth solo homerun in the top of the seventh.
 
The two teams traded runs again in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, before North Central exploded for eight runs on six hits in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach. Nick Sotiros, Dan Sotiros and David Rico each delivered RBI base hits in the inning, while Erik Milaicki drew a bases loaded walk in his first collegiate at-bat.
 
Augustana rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cardinal lead was too much to overcome late, as game one ended 16-10 in just over three and a half hours.
 
Van Dyck settled down nicely on the mound, allowing five runs, just two earned, over six innings pitched to earn the victory and improve to 2-0 this season.
 
Nick Sotiros led the Cardinal offense with a 5-for-6 performance from the plate, finishing a triple away from the cycle to go along with four RBI and three runs scored.  Rico finished 3-for-4 from the dish with two walks, five RBI and a run scored, while Bobby Smith and Chris Hill each had two hits as well.
 
Morgenstern took the loss for Augustana, allowing six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings pitched while walking five.
 
Ryan Kairis and Trace Gingerich each had three hits to lead the Viking offense, while Mitchel Ruh and Peter Doughty each drove in a pair.
 
In the nightcap it was the Cardinals who jumped out to the early lead, taking a 5-1 lead after four innings.  The Vikings scored first with a run in the top of the second, but Nick Sotiros evened the score in the bottom half of the inning with his second homerun of the day, another solo shot to left.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Smith walked to spark a the two-out rally while Chris Hill followed with a RBI triple to left, scoring Smith and giving the hosts a 2-1 lead.  A few pitches later, Hill trotted home on a wild pitch to increase the lead 3-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Jeremy Quade delivered a one-out, RBI single to left, scoring Dan Sotiros, before Rico drove a run scoring base hit to left, scoring Robert Zebrauskas and increasing the Cardinal advantage 5-1.
 
That was all the scoring the Cardinals would muster however, as the Vikings Kyle McKinley completing shut down the Cardinal bats, coming out of the bullpen and tossing five shut out innings, allowing just three hits the rest of the contest.
 
Augustana's offense came alive in the top of the fifth, pushing across four runs on five hits to run Cardinal starter Andrew Houser after 4 2/3 innings.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Vikings plated what proved to be the game-winning run on a RBI groundout off the bat of Cayton Wallace to take a 6-5 lead, as the inning was extended on a Cardinal throwing error following a sacrifice bunt earlier in the frame.
 
Cardinal reliever Nick Anderson was credited with the loss on the mound, allowing the one unearned run on three hits over 4 1/3 innings out of the pen.
 
Hill and Mateja each logged two hits in the finale, while Smith was 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored.
 
Doughty led the Viking offense with three hits in the finale, while Nathan Gray and Nick Mosele each finished with two hits apiece.
 
North Central continues CCIW play on Tuesday, Apr. 5, traveling to Millikin University with game one of the doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. at Sunnyside Park.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.