Carol Stream, Ill. – The North Park baseball team's bats were hard to stop, scoring a total of 22 runs over the course of two game versus Wheaton, but the Thunder made just enough plays on offense to take game two 10-9, after the Vikings took game one 13-11.
Game 1
After the Vikings and the Thunder exchanged runs in the first, North Park went on an early rally in the top of the second. With the bases loaded, Jared Cantu drove in an RBI single, and Logan Peters drew an RBI walk to make the score 3-1 NPU. Conner Woods, Cantu, and Jake Reinhardt all scored later in the inning to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Vikings. Cantu would score again in the fourth, followed a two-RBI Ranko Stevanovic double that scored Peters and Reinhardt to make it 9-1. Two innings later Bobby Bartlett and Justin Swanson would pick up an RBI each to give NPU a lofty 10-run lead. The Thunder would not quit, though, as they rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to give Wheaton new life. Soon after, Reinhardt called "game" with a two-run home run over the center field fence. The 13-9 deficit proved to be too much for Wheaton to overcome, as they scored two runs in the eighth, but North Park took game one 13-9. Justin Woolbright picked up the save, while Peters got the win.
Game 2
Game two had a different team coming out on top, but the same storyline as the offenses were cruising. Reinhardt, Stevanovic, and Woolbright all picked up an RBI in the first to put NPU up 3-0 before the Thunder even had a crack at the plate. The Thunder did answer with a lone run in the bottom of the first, before Woolbright scored to make it 4-1, before, again, Wheaton answered with three runs in the bottom of the third to make it four-all. Reinhardt and Stevanovic each got an RBI again in the fourth, but Wheaton had a lone run in the fifth to make in 6-5 NPU. North Park scored three straight runs in the seventh and the top of the eighth, capitalized by a solo shot from Reinhardt into left field, his fourth homer in the three-game series against Wheaton. That had North Park up 9-5, but the lead was not to be as the Thunder scored five in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead, and the game. The final score was 10-9.
What's Next?
North Park (13-14, 8-14 CCIW) take to the road against Benedictine University on Tuesday, April 27th. First pitch in Lisle, Illinois is scheduled for 2 p.m.
