Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Mar. 30, 2024 - Beginning College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play against Wheaton College, the North Central College baseball team racked up 25 runs in the doubleheader to sweep the Thunder, 12-10 in game one and 13-5 in game two on Saturday afternoon at Zimmerman Stadium.
The Cardinals struck first as John Michael Scumaci doubled to begin the bottom of the first inning. Trey Roach and Michael Davis reached on hit-by-pitches to load the bases. Jackson Bland delivered a two-run single, giving North Central a 2-0 lead.
After the Thunder scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second, Scuamci launched his first home run of the season to put the Cardinals up, 3-1. Wheaton answered again by scoring three runs on two hits in the third inning, retaking the lead, 4-3.
In the top of the fifth, the Thunder tacked on a run by scoring on a wild pitch. North Central closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth as Luke Lehnen singled and stole second to place himself in scoring position. Bland drove in Lehnen on a single up the middle.
Zach Carpita and Joe Hamilton led off with singles before Scumaci was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Carpita scored on a passed ball while Trey Roach plated Hamilton and Scumaci to give the Cardinals a 7-5 edge. Davis delivered an RBI double down the left field line, forcing a Thunder pitching change. Again, Bland hit an RBI single, as Davis came around to score and put North Central ahead by four, 9-5.
Wheaton hit four straight singles followed by a sacrifice fly to cut their deficit to two, 7-9 in the top of the seventh.
Carpita and Hamilton walked, each moving up a base on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch brought Carpita home before Hamilton scored on a separate wild pitch. With Scumaci on third base, Bland tallied his fifth RBI of the game by hitting a sacrifice fly to right field and giving the Cardinals a 12-7 advantage.
The Thunder responded with two runs on three hits and a Cardinals error in the eighth. In the ninth, Wheaton tacked on another run, but CJ Jensik closed the door to secure a 12-10 win for the Cardinals.
Gavin Gawronski picked up his first win of the season with Jensik tallying his first save. Bland led all batters with three hits and five RBIs while Scumaci scored four times in the game.
The bats stayed hot in game two as Joe Klein of Wheaton hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. North Central scored in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Lehnen as Kolby Fujii scored.
North Central tied the game in the second as Hamilton singled and later scored on a bases-loaded walk from Roach. Fujii scored his second run of the game on a wild pitch.
Klein homered again for Wheaton, giving the Thunder a slight 4-3 lead in the third inning. Bland walked to lead off the bottom half, stole second, and scored on a Caleb Coberley RBI single. Hamilton plated Coberley on another single, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. With the bases loaded, Roach hit a base-clearing triple to put North Central ahead, 8-4.
The Cardinals kept the offense going in the fourth as the Thunder walked the bases loaded. Danny Nuccio scored Bland on an RBI groundout before Fujii plated Carpita. Hamilton scored on a wild pitch, followed by a Scumaci RBI double, scoring Fujii to make the score, 12-4, North Central on top.
Both pitching staffs settled in as Wheaton scored a run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles.
Fujii singled to score Yuhki Yamada in the bottom of the eighth as North Central controlled game two with a 13-5 victory, moving to 2-0 in CCIW play.
Starter Andrew Bollman secured the win by pitching five innings with six strikeouts and four runs allowed. Anthony Raineri threw two scoreless innings as well for the Cardinals. Offensively, Fujii tallied four hits, three runs, and two RBI while Roach drove in four and walked three times.
North Central heads to North Park University (12-7, 1-0 CCIW) on Monday afternoon to continue league play. The Cardinals and Vikings are set to begin at 3 p.m. at Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago.
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