Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
MOLINE, Ill (May 12, 2023) - Entering the day with a 2-0 record in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament, the North Central College baseball team suffered losses to Augustana College and Illinois Wesleyan University to end their tournament run.
Neither team pushed a run across in the first inning of game one as both pitchers worked out of potential scoring positions. Dom Listi singled up the middle and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Jared Wojcik in the top of the second inning. Michael Davis drove in the game's first run on a single to plate Listi. The Vikings used five hits in the bottom half of the inning to score three runs as Augustana took a 3-1 lead after two innings.
The Cardinals responded as Joe Hamilton walked to lead off the third inning. John Michael Scumaci belted a double to right center field, advancing Hamilton to third base. Rob Marinec beat out an infield single to score Hamilton and bring North Central within one run.
In the fifth, Marinec launched his fifth home run of the season to tie the game at 3-3. Rios followed that up with a single to right field and advanced to third base on a Vikings error. Listi gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead with an RBI single which forced Augustana to head to the bullpen.
The Vikings retook the lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning with two runs on two hits and a walk. North Central's offense was stifled the rest of the way as the Cardinals were unable to push a run across to suffer their first loss of the tournament.
AJ Kutcher took the loss as he moves to 5-2 on the year. He allowed just two earned runs (four total runs) while striking out five in his 5.2 innings of work. Lehnen and Listi each recorded three hits with Marinec driving in two runs and scoring a run.
North Central faced Illinois Wesleyan University in an elimination game after the loss to Augustana. The Titans scored in the top half of the first inning, but the Cardinals answered as Lehnen reached first on an error, stole second base, and came around to score on an RBI double from Marinec. After Listi singled to move Marinec over to third base, Cole Gregorio drove in Marinec on a single to give North Central a 2-1 lead.
Three IWU batters drew walks to load the bases as back-to-back singles gave the Titans a 4-2 edge in the second inning.
After Jaedin Kotecki worked around a leadoff double to keep the Titans scoreless in the third, Listi took advantage of an IWU error to reach first base. He came around to score on a Gregorio RBI single to bring the Cardinals back within one, 4-3.
Another Titan error allowed Lehnen to reach base safely. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Marinec plated Lehnen to knot the contest at 4-4 in the bottom half of the fourth inning.
The first two batters of the sixth reached base via a free pass on their way to take a 5-4 lead. IWU extended their lead in the seventh on a leadoff double followed by a wild pitch and a groundout. The Titans added another run in the eighth on a Cardinals' error to hold a 7-4 lead.
Gavin Gawronksi held the Titans scoreless in the top half of the ninth inning. Wojcik led off the bottom of the inning with a single to right field. Cutting into Illinois Wesleyan's lead, Dave Fitzpatrick delivered a clutch double to score Wojcik. That wasn't enough as the Titans held on to take a 7-5 win.
Marinec and Gregorio led the Cardinals with three hits and two RBIs each on offense. CJ Jensik suffered the loss while Rios struck out two in his two innings pitched.
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