Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
CARBONDALE, Ill (Feb. 18, 2022) - Facing Blackburn College in their season opener, the North Central College baseball team scored nine runs in the first four innings while
Luke Lamm struck out nine in his six innings pitched to earn the win over the Beavers, 12-1 on Friday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Following a scoreless first inning, Paul Beverly tripled to begin the second inning. Jared Wojcik sent him home on a sacrifice fly to score the first Cardinal run of the season. Brad Novak and John Petty each singled before Dom Listi walked to load the bases for Rob Marinec. Marinec belted a two-out base-clearing double, giving North Central a 4-0 lead after two innings of play.
Lamm held Blackburn in check with his third 1-2-3 inning of the ballgame, having already struck out five Beavers. In the bottom half of the third, Luke Lehnen singled to left field and advanced to third base on two straight balks from Blackburn. Novak scored him with a single up the middle, putting the Cardinals on top, 5-0.
Blackburn posted their first hit of the game in the fourth, but Lamm kept them scoreless despite two Cardinal errors.
Following a Petty single and a Listi hit by pitch, Justin Rios singled through the left side to score Petty. Extending the lead to 9-0, Beverly used a single and an error from the Beavers to clear the bases allowing Listi, Rios, and Lehnen to cross home plate.
Blackburn scored an unearned run in the sixth before North Central added on two more runs in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff triple from Lehnen pushed the Cardinals to an 11-1 advantage after six innings.
In the seventh, Wojcik tacked on another North Central run as he singled to plate Marinec. CJ Jensik struck out four in his two innings of relief before AJ Kutcher struck out three in the top of the ninth to secure the first Cardinals win of the year, 12-1.
Beverly and Marinec each tallied three RBI's with Wojcik adding two. Lehnan scored three times as the Cardinals racked up 17 hits on the day. On the mound, North Central struck out 16 batters and only allowed four hits as Lamm earned the win.
The Cardinals take on DePauw University tomorrow at 2:30 PM at Itchy Jones Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University. Click HERE for live stats of that game.
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