Thanks to Paige Wilcox for the pictures
CHICAGO, Ill. – The North Park baseball team was all over visiting Benedictine Wednesday night as the Vikings took care of business to the tune of 11-4 in the victory over the Eagles. Six extra base hits from five different players fueled the offense, while the freshman duo of Michael Newsome and Alex DiVito produced solid outings on the mound.
After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the second inning, the Vikings chipped away with one run in each of their next three opportunities to even the game back up. First, in the bottom of the second, NPU loaded up the bases which allowed Ranko Stevanovic to score on a 3-6 fielder's choice off the bat of Brad Maurer. In the third, Stevanovic doubled to left field which allowed Justin Swanson to boogie all the way from first and score the second NPU run of the day. Finally, an RBI double in the fourth from Cole Fiorenza was enough to get Maurer across and even the game.
The flood gates burst in the fifth when the Viking offense pulverized the Eagle pitchers to push four across. Logan Peters led off the inning with a ringing triple down the right field line and was quickly driven home from a Swanson double. After a BenU pitching change, Stevanovic gave a nasty welcome to the new Eagle hurler when the Viking grad student cranked a two-run homer over the left field fence for his eighth homer of the year. A sac fly from Maurer rounded out the inning with a 7-3 NPU lead.
Insurance was added in the seventh when North Park pushed three more across via an RBI groundout from Peters, and two straight bases loaded walks from the Vikings. The home scoring finished in the eighth after Reece Arakaki scored Garrett Bragg on a fielder's choice. That gave NPU their 11th run on just ten total hits.
The young guns took care of business on the mound as the freshman Newsome excelled in his first career start, picking up the win in five innings allowing three earned runs and striking out two. DiVito took over for his fellow first year and locked down the Eagles going three full, allowing one earned run, and grabbing a strikeout.
Julian Ledezma went three up, three down to finish the contest.
What's Next?
North Park (11-20, 3-8 CCIW) will start a critical weekend of conference baseball when they take on Wheaton College (14-16, 7-5 CCIW) at home on Friday, April 29th. First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM.
