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

Box Score

Apr. 10, 2018 – Wrapping up a 11-game homestand, the North Central College baseball team suffered its first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) loss of the season in the opening game of the doubleheader to Illinois Wesleyan University, 16-5, before game two was suspended after the sixth inning due to darkness with the Cardinals leading 8-4.

Game one was one to forget for North Central, as the Titans racked up 16 hits and walked nine times to put up 16 runs on the Cardinal pitching staff.

North Central (12-7, 8-1 CCIW) scored in each of the first four innings, leading 8-5 at one point, but scored just one run over the final five innings.  The Cardinals struck first with a run in the bottom of the first, as Jeremy Quade led off with a walk, stole second and third, and came around to score on a Michael Mateja sacrifice fly to give North Central a 1-0 lead.

Illinois Wesleyan (13-10, 4-6 CCIW) countered with two runs in the top of the second on a Nick Figus homerun, but the Cardinals knotted the score in the bottom half on a Matt Sutherland RBI-triple to riht field, scoring Joe Rizzo who drew a two-out walk prior to the triple.

In the top of the third, the Titans plated three two-out runs on a pair of RBI-doubles to regain the lead 5-2, but once again the Cardinals responded with a four-spot in the bottom half of the third.  Eric Outlaw singled and advanced to second on a throwing error, before stealing third and coming home to score on another sacrifice fly off the bat of Mateja.

John Carmody followed with a single up the middle, while Mike Wisz doubled to right center to put runners on second and third for Colin Weilbacher who delivered a RBI-single to right, scoring Carmody.

Following a Titan pitching change, Rob Marinec walked to load the bases for Rizzo who drove in Wisz with a RBI-single through the left side, while Weilbacher also came around to score on the play on an error by the Titan left fielder.

North Central continued to push across runs, plating two more in the bottom of the fourth, as Wisz launched his fourth homerun of the season, a two-run shot to give the Cardinals a 8-5 lead.

That proved to be all the scoring the offense would muster until the bottom of the ninth inning, while the pitching staff struggled to contain the Illinois Wesleyan offense.  The Titans rallied to plate a run in the top of the fifth, while sending 12 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth to score seven runs on six hits, two walks and one Cardinal error to turn the tables and take a 13-8 lead.

The Titans scored three more in the top of the eighth, taking a commanding 16-8 advantage into the ninth, while the Cardinals left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, leaving 12 total runners on base in the opener.

Mateja finished 2-for-4 with two RBI to extend his reached base streak to 62 games, while Wisz also finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Sutherland led the offense with three hits, while Outlaw went 1-for-3 with three walks, two runs scored and a RBI.

Figus paced the Titan offense going 2-for-3 with three walks, three runs scored and two RBI, while Jacob Houghton finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and a RBI.  Jake Stewart added three hits, while John Bosco and Mike Plecki each drove in three.

In game two, North Central scored eight runs on seven hits while taking advantage of three Titan errors in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-0 lead, but the Titans cut the lead in half with four in the top of the sixth before the game was suspended due to darkness.  The game will be finished on May 1 at Illinois Wesleyan before the originally scheduled series finale.

North Central now hits the road for four-straight road games, making the short trip down the road to Benedictine University on Thursday, Apr. 12 with a 6 p.m. start time.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.