Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (Mar. 15, 2018) - An attempt to stage a game-winning rally came up just short for the North Central College baseball team on Thursday, as the Cardinals lost a 7-5 decision to Susquehanna University (Pennsylvania) in the opening game of their Spring Break schedule.
Susquehanna (3-7) got on the board first with a run-scoring double off the bat of catcher Peter Yarem in the second inning. The Cardinals leveled the score in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by
Robert Zebrauskas, who then scored the go-ahead run on
Michael Mateja's triple to center field.
Jeremy Quade followed with a base hit to score Mateja and extend North Central's lead to 3-1.
The Cardinals' advantage grew to 4-1 in the sixth, as
Rob Marinec led off with a single and later scored on Quade's sacrifice fly. The River Hawks, however, countered with six two-out runs in the seventh inning despite tallying just three hits. Susquehanna took advantage of a pair of Cardinal errors, two hit batters and a passed ball to take a 7-4 advantage.
North Central (2-1) loaded the bases with no one out in the eighth inning, but was able to bring home just one run.
Quade went 3 for 4 at the plate for the Cardinals, while
Colin Weilbacher was 3 for 5. Rusty Hoh pitched the first five innings, allowing just one run on one hit.
Yarem went 2 for 3 for the River Hawks, while reliever Brandon Damiano was awarded the victory after allowing just one unearned run on three hits in the final 3 2/3 innings.
The Cardinals take on Marietta College (7-1) in Port Charlotte on Friday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time
