Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
CARBONDALE, Ill. (Feb. 19, 2023) - Wrapping up their trip to Carbondale, Illinois, the North Central College baseball team added two wins on the day as they beat Blackburn College 12-2 in the morning before taking down DePauw University 8-2 in the nightcap.
After the Beavers scored two in the top of the first inning, Justin Rios singled and stole second to put himself in scoring position. Dom Listi walked before Jared Wojcik plated Rios on an RBI single. Luke Lehnen broke up a potential double play to score Listi from third and tie the game at 2-2.
Neither team pushed a run across until the fifth inning. John Michael Scumaci and Rios reached base to open the bottom of the fifth. Marinec used an RBI single to left field to score Scumaci. After a Listi sacrifice bunt, Lehnen hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. With the bases loaded, Danny Nuccio walked to bring in Jared Wojcik.
Gavin Gawronski pitched his third consecutive scoreless inning before North Central tacked on three additional runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Listi scored Rios on a sacrifice fly and Trey Roach doubled to plate Lehnen and Marinec.
Scumaci scored after reaching on a fielder's choice in the seventh. Nolan Shannon went three-up, three-down in the top half of the eighth. To put the game away, Brad Novak drew a bases-loaded walk before AJ Kutcher scored on a wild pitch to put North Central ahead by 10.
In the game, Gawronski picked up his first collegiate win as he threw four innings and allowed no runs and two hits while striking out three. Rios scored three runs with Lehnen driving in three. Marinec led the team with two hits.
In their game against DePauw, the Tigers scored two in the first half inning but the Cardinals responded with two runs as well, taking advantage of an error and three walks.
Starting pitcher Ryan Behling tossed a scoreless second inning for North Central. Davis and Dave Fitzpatrick reached base before John Petty scored Davis the next at-bat. Rios singled to plate Fitzpatrick and Marinec hit an RBI double to the left-center gap to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.
Behling settled in and didn't allow a run for the rest of his outing. In the fifth, Jason Shanner came in relief and held the Tigers scoreless.
After Rios was hit by a pitch to begin the sixth inning, Marinec crushed his second home run of the weekend over the left-field wall to provide two insurance runs for the Cardinals and take a 7-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh, Wojcik and Fitzpatrick reached base before a Scumaci deep sacrifice fly to center field added a run for North Central. Shanner kept the Tigers off the board for the rest of the game to earn the win.
Marinec tallied three runs batted in, two hits, two runs, and two walks on the night. Rios scored three runs while five Cardinals drove in one run. Behling struck out four while Shanner totaled eight strikeouts over his five scoreless innings.
The Cardinals head to Westfield, Indiana this upcoming weekend as they face the College of St. Scholastica at 11 a.m. (ET) before taking on Otterbein University at 6 p.m. (ET).
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