Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (March 19, 2022) - Staging two late-game comebacks the North Central College baseball team won both ends of their doubleheader against the Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday at Zimmerman Stadium.
Game one saw the Scarlet Hawks take a 7-0 lead through the first four and a half innings of play. Jared Wojcik sparked the Cardinals' offense in the bottom of the fifth inning when he hit a lead-off double. Paul Beverly was hit by a pitch before Michael Patterson walked to load the bases with no outs. John Petty grounded out to third but drove in the first North Central run of the day. Michael Davis hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Beverly and Brent Swenson hit an RBI single to close the gap and make the score, 7-3.
Sam Corbett went three-up, three-down in the top of the sixth in his first appearance of the season. North Central loaded the bases for Petty who doubled to tack on two runs for the Cardinals. Tying the game at seven, Davis plated Petty on an RBI single. With two on and two out, Trey Roach hit a clutch pinch-hit double before stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch to give the Cardinals a 10-7 lead.
After the Scarlet Hawks scored a run, Nolan Shannon came in and closed the door to earn his third save of the season. Corbett picked up his first career win while both Listi and Swenson tallied three hits. Petty drove in four runs to secure the 10-8 win for North Central.
Game two showcased the new lights turned on for the first time at Zimmerman Stadium. Each team scored a run after two innings of play. The Cardinals took a 3-1 lead after Roach hit an RBI single before Wojcik scored later in the inning. Starter Ryan Behling went 5.0 innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits and only one run.
The Scarlet Hawks answered in the sixth inning with four runs before adding another in the eighth to take a 6-3 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, North Central loaded the bases for Roach who singled to score Listi. Two straight hit by pitches plated Wojcik before Justin Rios hit a pinch-hit RBI single to knot the game at 6-6. Swenson drove in two more runs on his single up the middle. Rios and Swenson came around to score, giving the Cardinals a 10-6 advantage. After Listi was hit by his second pitch of the inning, Wojcik doubled down the left-field line. Listi scored on an IIT error which capped off the 10-run eighth inning.
Joe McKermitt finished the Scarlet Hawks off in the ninth as he earned his first win of the year. Both Wojcik and Roach recorded three hits, two runs, and two RBIs in the game.
North Central (11-5) hosts Saint Mary's (Minn.) tomorrow at 11 AM before facing this same IIT team at 2:30 PM. You can find links to live coverage options HERE.
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