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

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. (May 15, 2021) – Closing out the regular season on Saturday, the North Central College baseball team split a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader at North Park University, falling 11-4 in the opener before taking the nightcap 4-2 at the Holmgren Athletic Complex.

After three scoreless innings to begin game one, it was the Cardinals (33-7, 27-5 CCIW) who struck first in the top of the fourth, as Justin Rios and Trey Roach each singled to start the inning before Paul Beverly walked to load the bases with nobody out.  The first run scored on a double play, before John Petty singled up the middle with two outs to score Roach and give North Central a 2-0 lead.

North Park (17-21, 12-20 CCIW) stormed back in the bottom half of the inning as the first three batters reached ahead of Justin Woolbright who gave the Vikings the lead with one swing of the bat on a grand slam to left.

The Vikings were not done in the fourth as Jim Zay followed with the second homerun of the inning, this one of the two-run variety to give North Park a 6-2 lead.

That lead held up as the Vikings added five more runs over the final three innings to take game one, 11-4.

Jason Shanner was credited with the loss in the opener, allowing all six of his runs in the fourth inning, walking three and striking out one.  That one strikeout however did move Shanner into 10th all-time on the program's career strikeout list with 143 career punch outs.

Offensively, Rios was the lone Cardinal with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored.  Dom Listi finished 1-for-3 with a walk, hit by pitch and run scored.

The Cardinals again struck first in the nightcap for three runs in the top of the third and this time made that lead hold up.  Leading off the inning, Luke Lehnen stepped into his second homerun of the season, a solo shot to center to open the scoring.

Two batters later, Rob Marinec walked before Rios doubled to right to put two in scoring position with just one away.  Michael Davis drove in the second run on a RBI-single through the right side, before Brent Swenson followed two batters later with a run-scoring single of his own to give North Central a 3-0 advantage.

The Vikings cut the lead 3-1 with a run in the bottom half of the third, but North Central claimed that run back in the top of the sixth on a RBI-fielder's choice off the bat of Lehnen.

With one run in for North Park in the bottom of the sixth and runners on first and second in a 4-2 game, Nolan Shannon was summoned from the bullpen in relief of starter Ryan Behling and induced a weak groundout back to the mound to get out of the inning without further damage.

Shannon then proceeded to shut down the Vikings over the next two innings, while Patrick Schaefer completed the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season, tying the program's single-season record and moving into sole possession of third on the all-time saves list with 12.

Behling improves to 6-0 on the season with the win, allowing two earned over 5 2/3 innings with six punch outs to just one walk.

With the 13 total strikeouts on the day, the Cardinal pitching staff sets a new program record with 341 total punch outs this season, breaking the previous record of 336 set in both 2019 and 2002.

Eight of the nine batters in the lineup recorded a hit in the nightcap, but nobody finished with multiple hits as Listi was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, while Swenson also finished 1-for-3 with a walk, run scored and RBI.

Lehnen drove in two runs and scored once, while Marinec and Rios each scored a run and Davis drove in the other run for the Cardinals.

North Central finishes the regular season with 33 wins, the third-most in program history, while clinching the No. 1 seed in next week's CCIW Tournament co-hosted by North Central and Wheaton College. 

The Cardinals will take on the winner of the play-in game between eighth-seeded Wheaton College and ninth-seeded Carthage College in the CCIW Tournament opener on Wednesday, May 19 at 12 p.m. at Pfund Stadium in Carol Stream, Illinois.  The full CCIW Tournament schedule is available HERE.