CHICAGO / NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The North Park baseball team dropped a pair of games to eighth-ranked North Central College before avoiding a sweep with a game-three win in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
North Central ran away with game one of the series, utilizing five home runs to grab a 16-5 win.
In game two, now being played at Zimmerman Stadium, the Vikings had to mount a comeback after the Cardinals marked one run each in the first through fourth innings.
Justin Swanson's RBI double in the third inning removed the goose egg from North Park's run total before Ranko Stevanovic drove home Alex DiVito on a run-scoring single. Next, the Vikings took the lead after marking three runs in the fifth inning. Stevanovic and Bobby Bartlett collected RBI single, and Brad Maurer drew a bases-load walk to contribute the offense.
However, North Central tacked on three runs of their own in their next trip to the plate. This 7-5 score would hold the rest of the way, as North Central took game two of the series, 7-5.
In the final game of the series, the North Park bats would outlast North Central's as the Vikings salvaged the series with a 13-5 win.
Stevanovic got the scoring going once more with an RBI single to left field in the first inning before Maurer plated Jim Zay on an RBI groundout in the second inning. North Central got one back in the third inning, but RBI singles by Carson Blatchford and Reece Arakaki in the fourth extended the NPU lead to three runs.
North Central got a pair of runs back in their next trip to the plate, but the Vikings' fifth inning of work would all but put the game out of reach.
Nathan Sommerfeld started the big inning with an RBI single into right field before Zay plated Stevanovic on a sacrifice fly. Next, Blatchford drove a sac fly of his own before Arakaki and Justin Swanson tacked on run-scoring singles. In the ninth, Bartlett drove an RBI double to left center as the Vikings were ready to close the door with a nine-run lead.
On the mound, aces Tyler Banks and Ethan Sund posted nearly identical stat lines. Both pitchers struck out six, allowed four hits, and just one walk. Sund earned the win, working 5.1 innings, while Banks tossed 3.2 innings.
Keys to the Game 3 Win:
- Sund/Banks strike out 12
- Stevanovic 4-for-5 with two doubles
- Arakaki adds three hits
- Swanson, Zay, Blatchford each with 2-RBI games
- Vikings draw eight walks, three by DiVito
What's Next?
North Park (10-16, 3-4 CCIW) head to Rock Island, Illinois for a single game against Augustana this coming Tuesday, April 19. First pitch is set for 7pm.
