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

Box Score

May 3, 2016 – Struggling to slow down the University of Chicago offense, the North Central College baseball team dropped a 14-6 decision on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference matchup at Zimmerman Stadium.

The Maroons (14-14) went off on Cardinal pitching to score in seven of the nine innings, racking up 20 hits in the process.  Chicago jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, plating three runs in the top of the first and two more in the second.

North Central quickly erased that 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second however, as Nick Sotiros got the rally started with a two-out single to the shortstop.  After a David Rico walk, Dan Sotiros singled through the left side, scoring brother Nick while putting the Cardinals on the board.  Matt Sutherland followed with a walk of his own to load the bases, when Jeremy Quade promptly emptied the bases with a no doubt grand slam over the left field fence, the first homerun of his collegiate career to knot the score 5-5.

Chicago took the lead right back the following half inning however, as Max Brzostowski drove in a run with a RBI single to right, while the Maroons added to their lead with another run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

The Cardinals (26-7) countered with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Dan Sotiros double down the left field line, but that would prove to be all the scoring the Cardinal offense could muster, as the Chicago pitching staff held the North Central bats silent over the final five innings.

Nick Sotiros finished 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Cardinals, while his sixth inning double, his 19^th of the season, broke the program's single season record of 18 set in 1996.  Dan Sotiros also finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Quade added a pair of knocks and four RBI.

Chicago's Joe Liberman earned the victory after allowing just one run on four hits over his four innings in relief of starter Lucas Friss who went three innings, allowing five earned.

Eight of the nine batters in the Chicago lineup had a hit, including seven of those with multiple hits, led by Michael Davis' 4-for-6 performance, while Nicholas Toomey finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two walks, four RBI and a run scored.

North Central returns to College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Friday, May 6, travelling to Carthage College to kick off the three-game series with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. at Augie Schmidt Field.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.