Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 7, 2023) - Hosting their first doubleheader of the season, the North Central College baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader against Millikin University on Friday afternoon at Zimmerman Stadium.
Following a scoreless first inning from both sides, the first two Big Blue batters singled to begin the second inning. After a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third, Ryan Janssen delivered a two-run double down the left field line to give Millikin a 2-0 advantage.
The Cardinals got on the board in the fourth as Try Roach singled to open the bottom half of the inning. Roach advanced to second base and came around to score on a Justin Rios RBI single to put North Central within one, 2-1.
North Central's next best scoring opportunity came in the sixth as John Michael Scumaci hit a leadoff double to left field. Scumaci moved to third base on a wild pitch, but the Cardinals could not take advantage of the leadoff double as Scumaci was left stranded at third base.
In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Davis singled to open the frame before Rios was hit by the pitch. The next two batters went down on strikes and Dave Fitzpatrick hit into a fielder's choice to end the game as Millikin won, 2-1.
Scumaci tallied two hits on the game with Roach scoring the lone run and Rios driving him in. Starting pitcher Ryan Behling went 8.1 innings with five strikeouts and just two runs allowed while suffering the loss. Matt Wilson moved to 5-0 as he threw 7.2 innings with one run and five strikeouts.
A scoring opportunity for North Central came in the first inning as Roach walked before Davis singled to left field. Rios loaded the bases with another hit by pitch, but again the Cardinals could not capitalize with runners in scoring position.
Millikin used three hits in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead as the Cardinals went down in order in the bottom half of the inning. The Big Blue tacked on two more insurance runs in the fourth thanks to four walks, and a hit by pitch. Millikin added three runs in the seventh as they took advantage of two North Central errors.
The Cardinals only saw one runner make it to second base for the rest of the contest as the Big Blue scored two more times to win 9-0 and sweep the doubleheader.
Dom Listi recorded two hits in game two to pace the Cardinals. Luke Lamm threw four innings and allowed four runs while striking out four. Gavin Gawronski, Jaedin Kotecki, Elijah Hammond, and Ryan Fischer each posted scoreless outings for North Central. Landon Johnson picked up the win with a six-inning, five-strikeout, and no runs allowed performance.
North Central finishes the season series with No. 25 Augustana College tomorrow afternoon. The Cardinals and Vikings are set to play at 1 p.m. at Zimmerman Stadium in Naperville.
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