Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (Mar. 11, 2024) - Facing the United States Merchant Marine Academy for the first time in program history, the North Central College baseball team lost to the Mariners, 7-1 on Monday evening in the Snowbird Baseball Classic.
After three hitless innings from Andrew Bollman, USMMA scored a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead.
Caleb Coberley began the bottom of the fifth by drawing a hit by pitch and stealing second base. Joe Hamilton's RBI single plated Coberley to push the first Cardinal run across. Trey Roach used a sacrifice bunt to move Hamilton to second base before advancing to third on a groundout. He was left stranded at third to keep the score in the Mariners favor, 2-1.
USMMA opened the game up in the sixth as the first five batters of the inning reached base safely, tacking on five runs on four hits and a North Central error.
Ryan Gerdes came into pitch in the seventh and posted back-to-back 1-2-3 innings before keeping USMMA off the board in the ninth as well. The Cardinal offense could not find its groove as the Mariners held on to win, 7-1.
Hamilton and Jackson Bland recorded the only two Cardinal hits of the day with Hamilton driving in Coberley. Bollman suffered the loss, pitching five innings and allowing six runs, five earned, while striking out six. Tyler Reistetter claimed the win with 10 strikeouts over eight innings.
The Cardinals continue the Snowbird Baseball Classic tomorrow by taking on the Stevens Institute of Technology at 11:30 a.m. (ET). This is the first meeting of the two teams in program history.
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