Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
May 1, 2024 - After the North Central College baseball team took a 7-0 lead, Millikin University scored the final nine runs of the game to take a 9-7 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday evening at Zimmerman Stadium.
Luke Lehnen led off the bottom of the first with a single down the left field line and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. John Michael Scumaci hit an RBI double to left field as Lehnen scored the game's first run. With Scumaci and Jackson Bland on base, Jack Oberli delivered a two-out single to give North Central a 3-0 lead.
Starter Andrew Bollman worked out of a jam at the top of the second inning to keep the Big Blue off the board. Joe Hamilton doubled before Lehnen walked, forcing a Millikin pitching change. Scuamci hit a two-run triple to center field before Bland hit a sacrifice fly to put the Cardinals up 6-0.
Bland led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple to left center. Henry Saul hit an RBI single to right field, allowing Bland to score and extending the North Central lead to seven.
The Big Blue took advantage of two Cardinal errors to score six unearned runs on four hits in the top of the sixth inning. In the eighth, Millikin took the lead with two runs on two hits and two free passes.
Two singles from the Big Blue and a wild pitch allowed for an additional run in the top of the ninth inning.
Bland and Saul reached base in the bottom of the ninth to put themselves on the base paths. Trey Roach hit a deep fly ball to right field that was caught on the warning track, moving Bland to third base. Down to their final strike, Jack Oberli struck out on a pitch clock violation to end the game and give the Big Blue a 9-7 win.
Saul led all batters with three hits to extend his hitting streak to seven games while Scumaci drove in three runs and scored twice. Bland moved his reached base streak to 26 games as well. Bollman threw five scoreless innings in his start. Anthony Raineri took the loss with 1.1 innings pitched and three runs, two earned, allowed.
The Cardinals enter their final series of the regular season by taking on Elmhurst University on Friday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m.
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