Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (Feb. 28, 2025) – Hosting Ripon College in a last-minute schedule change at Lee Pfund Stadium, the North Central College baseball team dropped a pair of games to the Red Hawks in a doubleheader that saw a combined 60 runs and 70 hits on a windy Friday evening.
The Red Hawks turned four singles into two runs in the opening half-inning of game one. The Cardinal offense responded with runs of their own, scoring two on a Peyton Burgh triple before Henry Saul and Austin Wienke drove in runs to put North Central ahead, 4-2 after one frame.
A solo home run from Chase Hanselman cut the Ripon deficit to one, 4-3. After the starters settled in, the Red Hawks took advantage of two Cardinal errors, scoring four runs on five hits to take a 7-4 lead after five innings of play.
Ripon extended their lead in the sixth inning, scoring four more runs on two hits while another North Central error kept the Cardinal defense on the field. The Cardinal bats came back alive in the bottom of the sixth as Wienke launched a home run over the left field fence. Frankie Valli plated Caleb Coberley before coming around to score on a Parker Wyatt RBI single to left field.
Again the visitors responded as Ripon scored two runs on two hits to increase their lead to six, 13-7. The Red Hawks added seven runs over the next two innings before Coberley hit an RBI single as Ripon earned a 20-8 win in game one.
Wienke led the Cardinals with three hits and two RBI. Burgh and Coberley tallied two hits each while eight different Cardinals scored a run. Hammond suffered his first loss of the season with five strikeouts in the start.
Game two began in a similar way as Ripon started out the first inning with two runs on two hits against Cardinal starter Chris Rogers. North Central responded as Wyatt singled to score Yuhki Yamada. Wienke tied the contest in the next at-bat, thanks to a Red Hawks error. The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead with a Zach Carpita RBI single to plate Wyatt.
Ripon evened the score at 3-3 with another solo shot from Hanselman. After a Coberley single and stolen base, Carpita singled as Coberley came around to score to give the Cardinals a 4-3 edge. The Red Hawks battled back with seven runs on four hits and two North Central errors to take a 10-4 advantage in the top of the fourth.
Not giving in, Own Ziaja led off the bottom of the fourth with his first collegiate home run over the right-center field fence. Two singles from John Michael Scumaci and Wienke, Payton Diaz hit a two-run double before Justin Lang singled to center field to bring the Cardinals within one, 10-9.
Keeping pace, Ripon used two hits and three free passes to tack on four runs, extending their lead to five in the top half of the fifth inning. North Central responded again as Jackon Bland hit a pinch hit triple to plate Wienke and Wyatt before scoring on a Coberley double to right field to put North Central back within reach, 14-12.
Adding to their lead, the Red Hawks added two runs on three hits and a Cardinal error in the sixth. Bland and Coberley walked before Lang hit a clutch two-out single to left field, scoring Bland to make the score 16-13 after seven innings.
Hanselman finished off his impressive day with another home run, this time a three-run shot to right field, giving Ripon a 19-13 lead which they would hold onto to secure the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season. North Central falls to 1-4.
Coberley recorded a career-high four hits in game two with Scumaci and Carpita tallying three each. Bland extended his reached base safely streak to 35 games, dating back to Mar. 15 of last season. Rogers took the loss, allowing eight runs in 3.1 innings while striking out four.
The Cardinals will play five games at Pioneer Park in Ohio next weekend for the Marietta College Open. North Central begins the trip east on Friday, Feb. 7, with a 1 p.m. (ET) first pitch against Muskingum University. This is the first time the Cardinals and Muskies have faced off in program history.
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