PICTURED: Brent Kessinger
Although North Park sustained an early one-run lead in the second game of its doubleheader with host Hendrix College Saturday afternoon in Conway, Arkansas the Vikings unfortunately couldn't hold on as they suffered an 8-6 defeat in the non-conference tilt.
Hendrix completed the sweep with the victory as it went for a 7-0 win in Game 1 by holding NP's high-powered offense to one hit.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning of the second game, North Park came back with a pair of runs in fourth inning off three hits. Senior Ray Cekus started the rally with a leadoff single, followed by an Anthony Bragg poke to right field which set up a Tyler Woolbright RBI groundout to tie the score. James DeGeorge then gave the visitors the lead when he smacked a run-scoring single to right-center field allowing Bragg to score.
The rally was unfortunately short lived though as Hendrix struck for five runs in the bottom half of the frame, powered by a pair of two-run singles. North Park responded however as the Viking offense worked its way back into it with three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. Woolbright came up big again as he lofted a three-run double to center field in the fifth and junior Nate Simons tied it once again with an RBI single in the sixth. A two-run Hendrix eighth inning proved to be the deciding factor for the Warriors sixth win as freshman Ryne Sack suffered his first loss on the mound.
The hard-throwing right-hander lasted 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters and walked one. Junior Sean Eder started the game and worked five solid innings, striking out two batters.
Memories of the first game were quickly erased in Game 2 as North Park displayed its high-powered attack which produced 13 hits. However the Vikings were quiet much of the opener as they went for one hit – a Jacob Woolsey single in the fourth inning.  Hendrix starting pitcher Dan Imbro earned the win as he tossed a complete-game shutout with two strikeouts. Brent Kessinger suffered the loss on the mound for NP as he went 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and two walks.
North Park (1-4) looks to earn the rubber match Sunday afternoon as it closes out the three-game series with Hendrix at 12 p.m.
