Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
MOLINE, Ill (May 11, 2023) - Avenging two losses during the regular season, the North Central College baseball team scored five runs in the first inning to propel the Cardinals to a 6-5 victory over Millikin University on day two of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament.
The first three Big Blue batters of the game reached to load the bases with no outs. Starting pitcher Ryan Behling limited the damage to just one run by forcing a lineout and two groundouts.
Returning the favor, the first three Cardinal batters reached successfully as Luke Lehnen singled up the middle. John Michael Scumaci sent him home on an RBI double to left center field before Rob Marinec drew a walk. Loading the bases again, Dom Listi singled to left field. Jared Wojcik doubled to bring in Scumaci and Marinec. After Listi scored on a wild pitch, Joe Hamilton beat out an infield single, allowing Wojcik to score as the Cardinals took a 5-1 lead after one inning of action.
Behling kept Millikin scoreless in the second and third innings. Wojcik singled to open the bottom half of the third. He stole second base and moved to third on an error from the Big Blue. Dave Fitzpatrick walked to put runners on the corners. He worked himself into a rundown which allowed Wojcik to score from third base, putting North Central ahead 6-1.
Millikin added two runs in the fifth inning to bring themselves with three, 6-3. In the sixth, the Big Blue loaded the bases before Jaedin Kotecki came in relief of Behling and forced a groundout to halt Millikin's rally.
In the eighth, the Big Blue used two hits and a walk, to score two runs and set the score at 6-5. Nolan Shannon entered the game for North Central, striking out back-to-back batters to hold onto the Cardinals' lead.
Shannon kept Millikin off the board in the ninth to pick up his team-high fifth save of the season. He went 1.2 innings with three strikeouts against his seven batters faced. Behling improves to 6-2 with his 5.2 innings pitched with only three runs allowed and two strikeouts. Wojcik racked up three hits, two runs, and two RBIs while Scumaci scored and drove in a run.
North Central takes on Augustana tomorrow afternoon in a battle of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the CCIW Tournament. The Cardinals swept the season series. They square off at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow at Swanson Stadium.
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