Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 3, 2022) - Completing the season series with Millikin University, the North Central College baseball team scored 14 runs on 16 hits to take down the Big Blue on Sunday afternoon, 14-4, winning their seventh straight game.
Starting pitcher Luke Lamm settled in after Millikin scored a run in the top half of the first inning. The Cardinals answered back in the bottom half of the inning as Dom Listi tied the game on an RBI single, plating Luke Lehnen. With Listi on base, Paul Beverly belted his fourth home run of the season, putting North Central on top, 3-1.
The Big Blue tacked on a run in the third inning before the Cardinals added to their lead. After two walks, Rios singled to score Beverly and make the score, 4-2. With two outs, Brent Swenson scored Wojcik on an RBI single before Patterson plated Rios and Swenson, giving North Central a 7-2 advantage after three innings of play.
Adding another run in the fourth, Rios sent a double to right-center, allowing Beverly to score his third run of the day. Millikin scored one run in the top half of the fifth.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Beverly singled down the right field line to score Lehnen and Listi, after Lehnen drove in Swensen earlier in the inning to give North Central a 12-3 edge in the fifth.
Each team added a run in the sixth inning to put the score at 13-4. CJ Jensik entered the game in the seventh and kept the Big Blue off of the board as neither team scored a run in the seventh inning.
AJ Kutcher held Millikin hitless in his relief appearance in the top of the eighth inning. Needing just one run to close out the game, Joe Hamilton walked to lead off the bottom half of the eighth. He advanced to second on a Lehnen single and then to third on Listi's fielder's choice. Jared Wojcik delivered the game-ending single as the Cardinals cruised to a 14-4 win over Millikin in eight innings.
Lamm earned his fourth win of the season as he threw 6.0 innings, allowing four runs and striking out three. Beverly drove in four runs and scored three on the day. Beverly, Rios, and Patterson all recorded three hits in the game.
North Central (16-5, 3-0 CCIW) continue CCIW play on Tuesday as they travel to Bloomington to take on Illinois Wesleyan University (10-8, 1-0 CCIW). The game is set to begin at 4 PM at Horenberger Field.
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