Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
GEORGETOWN, Texas (Mar. 9, 2026) - Scoring multiple runs in six different innings, the North Central College baseball team erupted for a season-high 20 runs Monday night, rolling to a 20–5 win over Southwestern University at Rockwell Field.
Yuhki Yamada set the tone early with a single up the middle before swiping second. After Parker Wyatt and Jackson Bland worked walks, a wild pitch brought home the game's first run. Peyton Burgh followed with an RBI single to score Bland, giving the Cardinals a 2–0 lead after the first.
Starter Camden Loomis kept the Pirates quiet early, holding them hitless in the opening frame. Southwestern scratched across its first run in the third.
Burgh and Gavin Kleist drew walks in the fourth, and a Caleb Smith bunt single loaded the bases. Luke Wallace delivered an RBI single to left, and after a pitching change, Yamada drove in Kleist with a groundout. Wyatt added a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5–1.
A leadoff walk turned into a run for Southwestern in the fourth on a safety squeeze.
North Central answered again in the fifth. Payton Diaz legged out an infield single and scored on a Caleb Coberley double. A Pirates error moved Coberley to third, and he later scored on a wild pitch. Southwestern plated one in the bottom half, but the Cardinals still led 7–3 through five.
Wyatt and Bland walked to open the sixth, then executed a double steal. Diaz doubled them home to stretch the lead to 9–3.
The Cardinals blew the game open in the seventh. Burgh, Jacob Hoernschemeyer and Smith reached to load the bases, and Wallace drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Yamada added a sacrifice fly before Bland ripped a two-run double off the right-field fence. After a Diaz walk, Coberley crushed a three-run homer to right, capping a seven-run inning and giving North Central a commanding 16–3 advantage.
Southwestern scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cardinals' offense kept rolling. Braeden Groszek was hit by a pitch to start the eighth, followed by an Owen Ziaja single and a Mason Glaudel walk. Frankie Valli was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Fernando Tillery Jr. walked to plate another. A wild pitch scored Glaudel, and Valli came home on a fielder's choice as North Central pushed the lead to 20–4.
The Pirates took advantage of an error in the ninth to score once more, but the Cardinals closed out the 20–5 win.
Wallace, Diaz, Coberley, Burgh, Hoernschemeyer and Smith each recorded two hits, with Coberley driving in four. Bland scored three times on three walks, and 14 Cardinals crossed the plate at least once. Loomis earned his first win of the season, working five innings and allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Gavin Rosengren, Jim Shortall and Ryan Gerdes each tossed scoreless relief outings.
North Central wraps up its trip in the Lone Star State Tuesday against Concordia University Texas. First pitch has been moved up to 5 p.m. at Gardner-Boggs Field.
