Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director,
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NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 16, 2022) - Splitting their first doubleheader of the season, the North Central College baseball team defeated North Park University, 7-5 in game one before falling in game two, 5-13 on Saturday at Zimmerman Stadium.
After Luke Lehnen walked and Jared Wojcik singled through the left side, Dom Listi scored Lehnen to put the Cardinals on top early, 1-0. Starting pitcher Luke Lamm struck out two in the bottom of the first before Lehnen singled with two outs in the bottom of the second. Lenhen stole second and advanced to third on a Wojcik single. He came around to score on Listi's single through the right side to take a 2-0 lead.
Taking advantage of a Viking error, Jack Oberli scored in the top of the third as he reached on a hit by pitch to push the Cardinal lead to 3-0. North Park answered with two runs of their own in the next half inning.
Scoring a run for the fourth straight inning, Paul Beverly doubled to left center, bringing Listi around to score.
North Park responded with three runs to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Robert Deischer came in relief, getting two important outs with the bases loaded to limit the Viking damage.
Bouncing back in the top half of the sixth, Rob Marinec singled down the left field line to score Listi before Trey Roach hit an RBI single to plate Beverly. Closing out a three run inning, Michael Patterson drew a bases loaded walk to score Marinec and take a 7-5 lead.
Again Deischer came up with an important out as he picked off Bobby Bartlett at first base with runners on second and third. The Cardinal pitching staff held North Park scoreless the rest of the way to secure the 7-5 victory.
Deischer picked up his second win of the season while Jason Sanner earned his fifth save of the year. Wojcik tallied four hits while Listi scored and drove in two runs in the contest.
Game two saw the Vikings score a run in each of the first two innings. North Central answered back in the third with a Michael Davis home run to left field. The Vikings added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Closing the gap, Justin Rios doubled to right center as Oberli and Beverly came around to score, putting the game at 4-3.
North Park scored six runs on six hits in the top of the fifth to take control of the game. The Vikings added two more runs in the seventh before Oberli singled to plate Wojcik in the eighth inning. Each team scored one more run as the Vikings cruised to a 13-5 victory in game two.
The Cardinals return to action on Wednesday as they take on Concordia University Chicago for the first-ever night game played at Zimmerman Stadium under the new lights. The first pitch is set for 6 PM.
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