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

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. (May 5, 2018) – Splitting the final College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader of the season at North Park, the North Central College baseball team became just the second team in CCIW history to win 20 conference games.
 
The Cardinals finish the conference slate with a record of 20-4, claiming its fourth-straight regular season title and will host the CCIW Tournament beginning next Thursday.
 
In a crazy doubleheader featuring 52 total runs, 57 total hits and 11 homeruns, North Central scored 19 runs over the course of just four innings in the opener, thanks in part to a eight-run third and seven-run fourth inning en route to a 19-13 win, before the Vikings hung on to a 11-9 win in the nightcap.
 
Mike Wisz finished with 10 RBI over the doubleheader, breaking the CCIW record with 47 RBI over the 24 game conference slate.  Wisz passed Mike Corrigan '11 atop the record book, as Corrigan drove home 42 runs during the 2010 season.  His 64 total RBI this season currently rank tied for fifth in single-season history.
 
North Central (25-11, 20-4 CCIW) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the top of the first, as Jeremy Quade led off with a walk, followed by a Eric Outlaw single to right center sending Quade to third.  Quade then scored on a wild pitch, while Outlaw came around to score on a RBI-single off the bat of Mike Wisz two batters later.
 
North Park (17-21, 12-11 CCIW) took those two runs right back in the bottom of the second, but the Cardinals responded in a huge way, sending 12 batters to the plate to score eight runs in the top of the third.
 
Michael Mateja, Wisz and John Carmody fueled the fire with back-to-back-to-back solo homeruns to lead off the inning, the first three of six homeruns hit by the Cardinal offense in the opener.
 
Two batters later, Colin Weilbacher singled, followed by back-to-back two-out walks from Matt Sutherland and Quade to load the bases.  Eric Outlaw kept  the train rolling with a two-RBI single to center, while Wisz followed suit two batters later with another two-RBI single.  Mateja capped the eight-run inning, scoring on a wild pitch after walking earlier in the frame.
 
Now holding a six-run lead, the Cardinals seemed to be in control until the Vikings exploded with a nine-run bottom of the third, stringing together seven hits to take a 11-10 lead after three innings played.
 
Back in the batters box in the top of the fourth, Weilbacher singled up the middle with one out, before coming home to score on a Ryan Scott double immediately after.  The North Park pitching staff then lost all control, walking four straight Cardinal batters to drive in two more runs, before a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wisz plated the fourth run of the frame.
 
After Outlaw scored on a wild pitch, Carmody launched an opposite field, two-run bomb, his second homer of the ballgame to give North Central a 17-11 advantage.
 
Jason Shanner was summoned from the bullpen with one out in the bottom of the third and held the Vikings to just two earned runs over his 6 2/3 innings, shutting out North Park over the final four innings to earn his second win of the season.
 
North Park cut the score 17-13 with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth, but Outlaw and Wisz each countered with solo homeruns, the first of the season for Outlaw and second of the game for Wisz.
 
Four Cardinals finished with three or more hits, as Wisz finished 4-for-5 with two homeruns, six RBI and two runs scored.  Weilbacher was also 4-for-5, adding a pair of runs scored, while Outlaw was 4-for-6 with a walk, four RBI and four runs scored.  Carmody added a 3-for-6 performance with two long balls, three RBI and two runs scored, and Mateja finished 2-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI.
 
North Central led early in the nightcap as well, scoring three first-inning runs, as Quade was hit by a pitch and Mateja walked with Wisz coming to the plate.  After smoking two homeruns in the opener, Wisz picked up right where he left off, smashing a three-run shot the other way to give the Cardinals the early lead.
 
The North Park offense came to play early in game two as well, scoring five runs on a two-run double from Cam Adams, followed by a three-run homerun later in the inning off the bat of Justin Woolbright, his second of the day.
 
Forcing the Cardinals to play catch up, Weilbacher trimmed the Viking lead 5-4 with a RBI-single in the top of the third, scoring Mateja who walked in his second straight plate appearance.
 
Taking advantage of a Viking error that extended the top of the fourth, Sutherland tied up the score 5-5 coming home on the error, while Mateja made North Park pay with a RBI-double down the left field line.  Wisz then followed suit with a double to center, scoring Mateja while giving the Cardinals a 7-5 lead.
 
That lead was quickly erased in the bottom of the fourth, as North Park plated a pair, making a pair of one-out walks come back to bite North Central to tie the game once again 7-7.
 
North Park scored what wound up to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out double off the bat of Joe Koutnik, before adding three more in the bottom of the seventh to take a 11-7 advantage.
 
The Cardinals generated a two-out rally in the top of the ninth as Foster Heise singled to center ahead of Rob Marinec who slugged a pinch-hit two-run homer the other way over the right field fence. The Cardinal rally stalled following the homer however, as North Park shut the door 11-9.
 
Wisz finished the nightcap 2-for-5 with four more RBI, while Mateja finished 1-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored and a RBI.  Heise added a 3-for-5 performance, while Weilbacher added a pair of hits and Marinec drove in two.
 
North Central closes out the regular season on Sunday, May 6, traveling to Concordia University Chicago, taking on the 10^th-ranked Cougars at 1 p.m. in River Forest, Illinois.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.