PICTURED: Nate Simons
Two fielding errors to start Friday's game led to three unearned runs as North Park dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 19 nationally-ranked College of Wooster in Ft. Myers, Florida.
The Scots put their first two runners aboard thanks to some shaky fielding by the Viking infield. Wooster's Drew Tornow then tripled to the right field corner to put the Scots up, 2-0, and he later scored on a sacrifice fly. Viking hurler Brent Kessinger battled through four more scoreless innings, but the North Park bats were held in check by Wooster righty Zach Woullard, who did not allow a hit through six innings. The Vikings threatened in the fourth, however, as they loaded the bases on a walk to Ray Cekus, an error to allow James DeGeorge to reach, and a walk to Mitchell Jordan, but Cekus was retired on a fielder's choice and DeGeorge was called out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch.
The Vikings recorded their first hit – a solid single by Anthony Bragg to lead off the seventh – and finally scored in the eighth when Nate Simons singled, moved up on an error and a groundout, and came in on a groundout by Cekus. The Scots added a pair of runs in the eighth when reliever Jimmy Park walked the first two batters; two wild pitches (one by Park and another by reliever Cody Leuzinger), a sacrifice bunt and a grounder up the middle accounted for the scoring that inning.
North Park (3-8) wraps up its participation in the Gene Cusic Classic with a Saturday morning game against Johns Hopkins University.
