Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
May 2, 2026 - In their final games of the season, the North Central College baseball team dropped its highest-scoring game of the year, 25-21, in the opener against Elmhurst University before using a six-run fifth inning in the nightcap to claim a 15-10 victory Saturday at Zimmerman Stadium.
After Camden Loomis worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Yuhki Yamada and Luke Wallace walked, and a Caleb Coberley single loaded the bases. Parker Wyatt drove in the game's first run on a single, and Jackson Bland added a sacrifice fly before Peyton Burgh singled to center for a 3-0 lead. Elmhurst answered with seven runs on five hits, two walks and an error to move ahead 7-3. Caleb Smith doubled to start the second and scored on a Wyatt RBI single.
The Bluejays added six more in the third, highlighted by a Rock Smith grand slam, to extend the margin to 13-4. North Central responded with a nine-run inning. Bland doubled and advanced on a passed ball before Burgh walked. Smith brought Bland home on a fielder's choice, and two wild pitches during a Yamada walk put runners on the corners. Wallace doubled in a run, and Coberley followed with a three-run homer to right. Wyatt walked, and Payton Diaz reached on an infield single to set up Bland's two-run single through the left side to pull within 13-11.
Each team scored once in the fourth. Brian Kud delivered a scoreless fifth, and with the bases loaded, Coberley drew an RBI walk to make it 14-13. Elmhurst answered with six runs on four hits and four walks to push the lead to 20-13. A Diaz single set up Bland's seventh triple of the season, the fourth-most in program history, and he scored on a Burgh sacrifice fly to cut it to 20-15. Elmhurst added a run in the eighth before the Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom half, where Smith singled in a run and Yamada added a sacrifice fly. The Bluejays scored four more in the ninth, and although Coberley scored on a Bland double and Owen Ziaja delivered a two-run pinch-hit single, Elmhurst recorded the final outs.
Bland drove in six runs on four hits. Coberley drew four walks, drove in four and scored three times. Eight Cardinals scored multiple runs. Loomis took the loss.
Elmhurst opened game two with three runs on five hits in the first. Yamada singled to start the bottom half, Wallace doubled and Coberley brought in Yamada on a sacrifice fly. Wyatt singled in Wallace, and Jacob Hoernschemeyer tied the game with a double down the left-field line. Smith homered to lead off the second for a 4-3 advantage, and singles from Wallace and Coberley set up another run on a Wyatt sacrifice fly. Starting pitcher Brian DuVall kept Elmhurst scoreless the rest of his outing.
North Central added six runs in the fifth on two hits. Wallace and Coberley reached on free passes, and Diaz singled in Wallace. Coberley scored on an error, Ryan Huskey added a sacrifice fly, and Smith scored Bland before Hoernschemeyer and Smith capitalized on another miscue for an 11-3 lead. Elmhurst scored twice in the sixth, but Elijah Hammond held the Bluejays scoreless in the seventh. A double and a single brought Elmhurst within 11-6.
In the eighth, doubles from Wallace and Diaz and a Coberley single added two runs. Wyatt scored on a wild pitch, and Hoernschemeyer drove in Diaz on an error for a 15-6 lead. Elmhurst used a leadoff double to spark four runs in the ninth, but Hammond closed out the four-inning save, his seventh of the season and the third-most in program history.
Wallace scored four runs on a 3-for-4 performance. Diaz tallied three hits with two runs and two RBI. DuVall earned his third win with five innings of three-run work. The Cardinals finished the 2026 season 21-19, their 10th 20-win season in the past 11 years, and 9-11 in conference play.
