Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (Apr. 5, 2025) – Winning the season series against Wheaton College, the North Central College baseball team swept the Thunder in a doubleheader Saturday at Pfund Stadium as the Cardinals improved to 5-2 in conference play.
North Central starter Chris Rogers kept the Thunder scoreless early on. Peyton Burgh and John Michael Scumaci walked in the top of the third inning for Jackson Bland, who plated Burgh on an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Parker Wyatt and Frankie Valli began a two-out rally in the fourth with back-to-back singles before Justin Lang used an RBI single to score Wyatt and push the North Central advantage to two.
Following two straight 1-2-3 innings from Rogers, Burgh led off the seventh with a hit by pitch. Scumaci took advantage of a fielder's choice before Austin Wienke walked to load the bases and force a Wheaton pitching change. Burgh scored on a balk with Henry Saul plating Scumaci on a sacrifice fly. Caleb Coberley brought home Wienke with an RBI double before Lang singled to plate Coberley as North Central took a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Thunder offense broke through as two hits and two walks led to three runs as the hosts cut their deficit in half with two innings left, 6-3.
Scumaci hit a leadoff single and stole second to put himself in scoring position. Bland reached on an error, which brought Scumaci home to tack on an insurance run for North Central.
The Thunder added a run on the eighth, but Alez Diaz finished the game on the mound to secure a 7-4 victory for North Central in game one. Rogers earned his first win of the season with five strikeouts over 6.2 innings. Four Cardinals tallied multiple hits to lead the North Central offense.
Game two began the same way as game one, with the pitchers dominating early. Bland, Wienke and Saul all reached to load the bases in the top of the fourth inning. Coberley broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single. Saul added a run on a wild pitch as North Central led 3-0 after four innings of play.
Wheaton battled back to even the game at 3-3 with four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Wyatt led off the seventh with a double to left field. After a Lang single Burgh singled through the right side to score Wyatt and break the 3-3 tie. Scumaci drove in Kolby Fujii on a sacrifice fly before a fielder's choice from Bland plated Lang to double up Wheaton, 6-3.
AJ Kutcher, Jaedin Kotecki and Elijah Hammond kept the Thunder from adding to their run total. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals took control of the game. Yuhki Yamada and Lang both scored on a Burgh double. Burgh crossed home plate on a Wienke single before Saul drove in Burgh with an RBI single. Braden Groszek pinch ran for Saul and came around to score on a Wyatt single. Yamada recorded his second hit of the inning as he plated Coberley on an RBI double to give North Central a 12-3 victory.
Burgh led all players with three RBI in the game. Five Cardinals tallied two hits with 10 different players scoring a run. Kutcher picked up the win with three runs allowed in six innings of work. Hammond struck out four in 2.1 innings on the mound.
North Central visits the Illinois Institute of Technology Sunday for a 1 p.m. first pitch at Ed Glancy Field in Chicago. The Cardinals beat the Scarlet Hawks 21-8 earlier this season, led by a 20-run fourth inning to secure the victory.
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