Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Game one box score
Game two box score

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (19 Mar. 2017) – Exchanging offensive outbursts in a doubleheader against Adrian College, the North Central College baseball team split against the Bulldogs, taking game one 10-6 and losing game two 21-4 Sunday afternoon at North Charlotte Regional Park.

The Cardinals offense picked themselves up after the previous days performance, doubling their hits total as they finished with 12 in the first game. North Central took an early 2-0 lead in the second as Austin Wheatley lined a two-RBI single to score Nick Sotiros and John Carmody. An inning later, Carmody increased the Cardinal lead with a three-run homer, scoring Christ Hill and Michael Meteja. The Bulldogs would get one run back in the bottom half of the third but an RBI groundout from Jeremy Quade to score Adam Nelson in the fourth kept the North Central lead at five, 6-1.

The Cardinals would score another run in the fifth but Adrian would respond with two in the bottom half. The Bulldogs would threaten each of the next two innings, scoring a run in both the sixth and seventh, but the Cardinals would hold onto the lead. One run from North Central in the eighth followed by a two-run ninth would be enough as the Cardinals took game one 10-6. Carmody, Sotiros, and Mateja finished with two hits each while Carmody ended with three RBI. Quade and Wheatley collected two RBI in game one.

Blake Kons earned the win for North Central, allowing two earned runs and two hits over four innings, tallying two strikeouts on the day.

Game two would not be a favorable one for the Cardinals as Adrian piled on 24 hits, scoring 21 runs. The Cardinals offense still finished with ten hits but their four runs would not be enough to overcome Adrian's offensive explosion.

Down 3-0 in the second, the Cardinals cut the deficit to one thanks to Hill scoring on an error from the Adrian pitcher. One batter later, a sacrifice fly from Sam Siebers would allow Sotiros to come across. That would be the closest North Central would come to overtaking the lead as the Bulldogs scored nine runs the next two innings. North Central was able to salvage one run in the fifth thanks to a fielder's choice but Adrian would put the game away with three runs in the sixth and another six runs in the eighth. North Central finished with one run in their last at-bats for the final 21-4 loss.

The Cardinals (2-3) committed two errors to Adrian's one while Hill and Quade finished with multiple hits in the contest.

The Cardinals return back to action on Tuesday, March 21 as they take on #No. 9 Wooster at 11 am (ET). Live stats can be found HERE.