Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
WAUKESHA, Wis. (Apr. 26, 2025) – Allowing just two runs over 18 innings, the North Central College baseball team secured a 4-0 win in game one and a 7-2 victory in game two against Carroll University on Saturday at Frame Park, marking head coach
Ed Mathey's 500th win in a Cardinals uniform.
In the opener, Yuhki Yamada and Jackson Bland reached base before Parker Wyatt was hit by a pitch to load the bases in the first inning. Austin Wienke drove in the game's first run on a fielder's choice, followed by John Michael Scumaci plating Bland. Caleb Coberley capped the inning with an RBI single to center field, giving North Central a 3-0 lead.
Cardinals starter Brian Duvall was dominant, retiring Carroll in order in the first inning and working around a leadoff double in the second. The Pioneers didn't place a runner in scoring position until the fifth, when Duvall induced a groundout to keep them scoreless.
In the eighth, reliever Payton Diaz preserved the shutout, forcing a groundout after a leadoff double and a walk. Coberley started the ninth with a walk and advanced to third on two free passes. Justin Lang plated Coberley with a sacrifice fly, while Diaz worked around a leadoff single to secure the 4-0 victory.
Duvall struck out four over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits. Diaz earned his fifth save of the season, pitching 1 1/3 innings. Coberley led the Cardinals offensively with two hits.
North Central's bats remained hot in game two. Yamada opened with a leadoff single, advancing to third before scoring on Wienke's sacrifice fly. Carroll responded with three straight hits to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.
Coberley singled in the second inning, stole second, and scored on Lang's RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. Yamada followed by driving in Owen Ziaja, while Lang scored on Bland's sacrifice fly, pushing the Cardinals ahead 4-2.
AJ Kutcher posted a clean inning in the second, and Scumaci and Coberley's back-to-back singles in the fourth set up Peyton Burgh's two-run double to left field, extending the lead to 6-2. After pitchers settled in through the fifth inning, Yamada led off the sixth with a single, stole second, and scored on a Pioneer error to add an insurance run.
Kutcher controlled the game on the mound, allowing only two runs over 8 1/3 innings with five strikeouts. Elijah Hammond closed in the ninth, aided by a double play from the Cardinal defense, to seal the 7-2 win.
Coberley and Yamada each scored twice, and Burgh drove in two runs. Wyatt extended his hitting streak to six games with a hit in each contest.
The Cardinals conclude the series against Carroll on Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at Zimmerman Stadium. North Central has won 10 of its last 11 matchups against the Pioneers.
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