Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication,
630-637-5324
CLEVELAND, Ohio (May 16, 2025) – Taking on the top-seeded team in the Cleveland NCAA Tournament Regional, the North Central College baseball team fell to No. 17 Case Western Reserve University 19-9 on Friday at Nobby's Ballpark.
The first three batters for the Spartans walked to load the bases with nobody out. Cardinal starter Chris Rogers induced a popup to Owen Ziaja at third base, before Ziaja snagged a line drive, saving two runs. A flyout to Parker Wyatt in right field kept the game at 0-0 after the first inning.
Henry Saul and Peyton Burgh drew free passes with no outs in the top of the second. Ziaja hit an RBI single to left field to plate the game's first run. Justin Lang scored Burgh on a sacrifice fly as North Central took a 2-0 lead after two innings of play.
Following a 1-2-3 inning from Rogers in the bottom of the second, Caleb Coberley led off with a single. He moved to second base on a single from Wyatt. They each stole a base to put themselves in scoring position. John Michael Scumaci singled through the right side to score Coberley and increase the Cardinal advantage to three.
The first seven Spartan batters reached base in the bottom of the third inning. The hosts scored eight runs in total thanks to five hits, four walks and two Cardinal errors to take an 8-3 lead after three innings of play.
Ziaja and Lang each singled in the top of the fourth inning. Coberley drove in Ziaja to cut into the Case Western Reserve lead, 8-4.
The Spartan tacked on an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. After a scoreless fifth, the Cardinals responded with a run as Wyatt doubled to center field and came around to score on an Austin Wienke RBI single to make the score 9-5.
Case Western Reserve broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth by scoring five runs on four hits, a walk and a North Central error to take a 14-5 lead. Scoring five runs for the second straight inning, the Spartans put together six hits, to take a 19-5 advantage after seven innings.
Joe Hamilton and Matthew Falzone put themselves in scoring position with base hits in the top of the ninth. Braeden Groszek plated Hamilton on an RBI single before Frank Valli drove in Falzone, putting the score at 19-7. Coberley scored Groszek and Valli on an RBI single, but that would be the final score as Case Western Reserve earned a 19-9 victory.
Coberley drove in three runs on the day, along with five hits and a run. Ziaja, Valli and Groszek each scored and drove in a run for the Cardinal offense. Rogers suffered the loss, giving up six runs in two innings with a strikeout. Ryan Gerdes threw 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball in the eighth and ninth innings. Ayush Shetty picked up the win for the Spartans with 4.2 innings of work, allowing five runs and eight hits.
The Cardinals will face No. 16 Centre College on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. (ET) inside Nobby's Ballpark. This matchup will be an elimination game, with the winner playing at 3:30 p.m. ET against the other team in the regional with a loss.
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