Contact: Sam Fretto, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 3, 2025)- The North Central College baseball team had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Elmhurst Bluejays, dropping a 15-10 shootout at Zimmerman Stadium on Thursday. The game was rescheduled and moved to Zimmerman Stadium due to weather and field conditions. 

The Cardinals jumped on Elmhurst's starting pitcher Jack Krueger in the top of the first inning after Henry Saul led off with a double down the left field line and Jackson Bland plated him with an RBI double to gain the 1-0 advantage. Brian Duvall ran into trouble in the bottom of the first, surrendering five straight singles with three runs coming across to make it 3-1 Bluejays. 

The Cardinals scored six unanswered runs, with one in the top of the second as Justin Lang advanced home on a wild pitch. Three came in the third as Bland scored from an RBI walk by Lang. Peyton Burgh came home after Joe Hamilton reached base by a fielding error at third base, and Caleb Coberley put the Cardinals up 5-3 after advancing home on a passed ball. 

North Central held a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the fourth after a Bland RBI single brought home Saul, and Austin Wienke singled to center to plate John Michael Scumaci. Elmhurst regained the momentum, loading the bases and knocking Duvall out of the game for David Anderson. Two walks and two singles plated five to cap off the fourth inning to make it 8-7 Bluejays. 

The lead changed hands once again in the fifth inning after a Saul RBI single brought Lang home and Yuhki Yamada scored on a wild pitch to give North Central the 9-8 lead. The lead was short-lived as the Bluejays offense tacked on three more in the bottom half of the fifth behind a leadoff double and three singles as the Cardinals trailed 11-9. 

Hamilton tagged up to score after a Scumaci sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to make it 11-10 Elmhurst. That would be the closest the Cardinals would get as the Bluejays added four insurance runs, including three in the seventh and one in the ninth, for the 15-10 final. 

Bland had a 3-for-5 day with two RBIs and one run scored en route to the Cardinals (8-12, 3-1 CCIW) dropping their first conference game of the season to the Bluejays (7-13, 1-1 CCIW). Jaedin Kotecki was charged with the loss, going 1.2 innings and giving up 3 earned runs. 

North Central hits the field tomorrow to begin a three-game weekend series against the Wheaton College Thunder. First pitch from Zimmerman Stadium is set for 5 p.m. 

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