Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
BELTON, Texas (Mar. 6, 2026) - The North Central College baseball team closed its three-game series with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday, scoring 18 runs on the day but unable to slow the Crusaders' offense in a pair of losses at Red Murff Field.
In the opener, Yuhki Yamada and Parker Wyatt singled in the first inning to put runners on the corners before a Jackson Bland walk loaded the bases. Payton Diaz delivered an RBI single to open the scoring, and Caleb Coberley drove in two more on a fielder's choice and an error as the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead. Mary Hardin-Baylor answered immediately, as its leadoff batter homered and five hits produced five runs.
Both offenses stayed hot in the second. Two walks and two singles helped North Central tie the game at 5-5, with Yamada driving in Caleb Smith and Gavin Kleist. After a Crusader pitching change, Luke Wallace scored on an error and Coberley lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Yamada, giving the Cardinals a 7-5 lead. Mary Hardin-Baylor responded with another leadoff home run to pull within one.
Both pitchers faced the minimum in the third before the bats reawakened. Wyatt doubled to start the inning and scored on a Diaz RBI double. Bland came home on a Coberley sacrifice fly, and Kleist drove in Diaz to extend the lead to 10-6.
Mary Hardin-Baylor surged back in the fourth, taking advantage of two walks, two hit batters, two balks and three hits to push across six runs and reclaim a 12-10 lead.
North Central tied the game again in the fifth. Wallace walked and eventually scored on an error, and Wyatt followed with a home run to make it 12-12. In the sixth, Frankie Valli singled and scored on a Wallace double, and Yamada added an RBI single to put the Cardinals ahead 14-12.
The Crusaders chipped away in the seventh with a leadoff double that led to one run. Diaz entered on the mound and limited the damage, keeping North Central in front. Mary Hardin-Baylor opened the eighth with a home run to tie the game before a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch put the Crusaders ahead 15-14.
Wyatt doubled to start the ninth and Bland was hit by a pitch. Valli moved both runners up with a groundout, but the Cardinals stranded them as Mary Hardin-Baylor held on for a 15-14 win.
Yamada finished with four hits, four RBIs and two runs. Wyatt scored three times and tallied four hits with an RBI. Coberley also drove in four. Diaz took the loss, allowing two runs in 1.2 innings.
In game two, the Crusaders struck first with a sacrifice fly in the third. North Central answered in the fourth when Wyatt singled, advanced to third on an error and scored on a Diaz RBI single.
A leadoff triple in the bottom of the fourth sparked a three-run inning for Mary Hardin-Baylor, which added three more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to build a 9-1 lead.
Wallace opened the seventh with a triple to right and scored on a wild pitch. Yamada reached on an error and later scored on a Wyatt single up the middle. In the ninth, Andre Medina doubled and pinch-runner Jake Jurkacek scored on a Wallace sacrifice fly, but the Cardinals could not draw closer in a 9-4 loss.
Medina, Wyatt and Wallace each recorded two hits in the nightcap. Jonny Rossi threw 3.1 innings with four earned runs allowed and took the loss. Camden Loomis worked a scoreless inning without allowing a hit.
North Central is off this weekend before returning to action Tuesday night for the program's first matchup with Concordia University Texas. First pitch at Gardner-Boggs Field is set for 6 p.m.
