Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

GLENDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 22, 2025) – Allowing six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the North Central College baseball team fell to George Fox University Saturday, 15-9, at Camelback Ranch.

After two scoreless innings from starter Chris Rogers, a Justin Lang triple put the Cardinals in scoring position for the first time. Kolby Fujii plated Lang on a sacrifice fly to center field. The next batter, John Michael Scumaci, launched a home run over the left field fence to put North Central on top, 2-0.

The Bruins answered with a two-out rally which scored three runs on two hits and two free passes to take a 3-2 edge after three innings of play.

The Cardinals evened the score in the fourth as Ryan Huskey hit a leadoff single and moved to third on two wild pitches. A Peyton Burgh RBI single to right field added a run on the board for North Central.

Following a solo shot from George Fox, Fujii began the top of the fifth inning with a single to center field. Parker Wyatt was hit by a pitch to advance Fujii to second base and into scoring position. Husky plated Fujii on an RBI single as North Central knotted the score, 4-4.

Again the Bruins responded as a leadoff single turned into three runs on four hits as George Fox took a 7-4 lead after five innings of action. Jackson Bland extended his reached base safely streak to 32 games with a single to center field in the sixth. Burgh launched a two-run home run to bring the Cardinals back within a run. With the bases loaded, Wyatt drew a walk, allowing Lang to score. Fujii came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Huskey to re-give North Central the lead, 8-7.

George Fox tied the game on a bases-loaded walk of their own in the bottom half of the sixth before taking the lead on a solo home run to left field in the seventh inning. Trading scores, a Lang single and Scumaci double evened the score at 9-9.

Three doubles, a home run and two Cardinal errors turned into six runs for the Bruins in the eighth inning as George Fox took control of the game. The Bruins kept North Central off the board in the ninth to secure a 15-9 victory. 

Ben Muhich took the loss for the Cardinals with Luke Vrable earning the win for George Fox. Lang racked up three hits and three runs on the day while Burgh drove in a team-high three runs on two hits. Rogers struck out three in his 2.2 innings of work, allowing three runs 

North Central and George Fox conclude the three-game series tomorrow with a decisive 10:30 a.m. (MT) first pitch at White Sox Field #5 inside Camelback Ranch.

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