Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (Mar. 15, 2023) - Overcoming two deficits throughout the game, the North Central College baseball team put together a clutch sixth inning to beat the College of Wooster on Wednesday afternoon at Centennial Park Fields.
After a scoreless top of the first from starting pitcher Anthony Raineri, Dom Listi launched a leadoff double to right center field. Rob Marinec traded places with Listi as he hit an RBI double to score the game's first run. Marienc advanced to third on a passed ball to allow Justin Rios to hit a sacrifice fly to plate Marinec.
The Scots responded with two runs of their own to tie the contest at 2-2 after two innings of play. Wooster took their first lead of the game as they took advantage of two Cardinals errors in the third inning to lead 4-2.
Listi led off the bottom of the third with a single to center field. With two outs, Michael Davis reached on a Scot error to extend the inning for Luke Lehnen who delivered an RBI single to bring North Central within one run.
In the fourth, Nolan King drew a walk to bring up the top of the lineup. Listi recorded his third hit of the day as he hit another double to score King and tie the game at 4-4. With Listi at second, Marinec singled to put runners on the corners for Rios. Giving the Cardinals their lead back, Listi crossed home plate on a Rios RBI groundout. Davis stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on third. He singled to center field and scored Marinec as North Central held a 6-4 advantage after four innings of play.
Wooster battled back and retook the lead, 7-6 after five and a half innings, scoring three runs on three hits.
Following a walk from Rios and a double from Davis, Lehnen hit a clutch two-run single through the right side to score Rios and Davis and put the Cardinals back on top, 8-7.
Michael Patterson came in to pitch for the top of the seventh and held the Scots scoreless, working out of a two-on, two-out jam.
Nolan Shannon entered the game in the eighth with a runner on second and two outs. He fanned the Scot batter to keep the score at 8-7. Capturing his first save of the season, Shannon struck out the final two batters of the game to secure an 8-7 victory for the Cardinals.
Listi and Marinec each tallied three hits and multiple runs on the day. Lehnen drove in three as seven North Central batters recorded at least one hit. AJ Kutcher picked up his first win as he threw three innings, allowing three runs while striking out three. Shannon struck out three over his 1.1 innings pitched.
The Cardinals close out their spring break trip tomorrow looking to post a 5-0 record in Florida as they face Arcadia University at 10:30 a.m. (ET) on Centennial Park Fields (C9).
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