Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

CARBONDALE, Ill. (Feb. 20, 2022) - Tallying 22 hits in the game, the North Central College baseball team took down Wilmington College 16-4 on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.

Jason Shanner struck out the side in the bottom half of the first before Paul Beverly opened the second inning with a double down the left-field line. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases with Dom Listi at the plate. He drew the third walk of the inning to score Beverly and take a 1-0 lead.

After a hitless bottom of the second, Justin Rios doubled to kick off the third. With Rios on second, Beverly smacked a two-run home run over the left-field fence to put the Cardinals on top 3-0. Jack Oberli walked and proceeded to steal second and third base while Michael Patterson sent him home on a single up the middle. John Petty plated Patterson in the next at-bat with a double to left field, giving North Central a 5-0 advantage after three innings.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 8-0 following a Marinec solo home run, a Beverly double, and an Oberli single in the top half of the fourth. Shanner kept Wilmington scoreless before Dom Listi scored on a Rios double. Beverly sent home Marinec and Rios to push the Cardinals lead to 11. 

Each team added two runs as North Central held a 13-2 lead through six innings of play. To keep the game alive and avoid the 10-run mercy rule, Wilmington scored two runs in the seventh.

Zach Carpita began the ninth inning with a double down the left-field line before Brent Swenson traded places with him on an RBI double. John Michael Scumaci belted the third double of the inning to score Swenson. Trey Roach tacked on another run as he singled to right field, scoring Scumaci. Robert Deischer came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and secured the Cardinals 16-4 win.

Beverly went 4-for-4 at the plate while driving in five runs, and scoring three. Also recording four hits was Marinec who totaled three RBI's and two runs. Shanner picked up the win as he pitched five innings with nine strikeouts.

North Central is back in action on Friday as they face Manchester University at 4 PM (ET) in Westfield, Indiana.
 
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