Thanks to Paige Wilcox and Virginia Smith for the pictures

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park baseball team celebrated the careers of its seniors and graduate students for the final home game of the 2022 season, matching up against Elmhurst for game 2 of their series. Unfortunately for the North Park upperclassmen, their careers at the Holmgren Athletic Complex ended in defeat as the Blue Jays won by a score of 4-3 despite a late, unyielding comeback effort from the Vikings.

Today's pitching matchup saw Brendan Russ face off against Elmhurst's J.D. Knight. Both pitchers sailed through the opening 4 frames, with Russ holding the Blue Jays hitless while the Vikings offense tallied just 2 hits. The 5^th inning brought troubled waters Russ' way, however, as Elmhurst rallied to put up 3 runs on Russ with 2 outs. Russ finished out the inning by forcing a ground out, but that marked the end of his day as lefty Brett Brueske came in for relief. The final stat line for Russ: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 K, 4 BB, 3 ER.

Brueske brought his best for Senior Night, immediately striking out 3 Elmhurst hitters to get through the 6^thinning. The Vikings bats were still silent though, mustering just 3 hits through 7 innings. Elmhurst added one to their lead in the 7^th, but Brueske rebounded with a shutdown 8^th to send the Vikings to the plate down 4-0.

North Park turned to veteran Richie Silva for a pinch hit that resulted in a HBP to give the Vikings their second leadoff runner of the game. A subsequent single from Brad Maurer moved Silva up to second base, and he would then move to third on the next at-bat after a foul out. With 1 out and runners on the corners, Elmhurst got the double play ball they were looking for off the bat of Bobby Bartlett. The throw to first was not in time to catch him though, giving the Vikings their first run of the ballgame. Brueske took to the mound with a 4-1 lead, and he sent North Park right back to the plate with another 1-2-3 inning. He would end the day with a stellar line of 4 IP, 2 H, 7 K, 1 BB, and 1 ER. 

Down 3 runs in the bottom of the 9^th, freshman Nate Sommerfeld got the call off the bench to pinch hit. He then smoked a leadoff triple into the left-center gap, scoring on the next at-bat after a Garrett Bragg double to the same side. The next two Vikings hitters proceeded to get out, but not without moving Bragg up to third base for leadoff hitter Reece Arakaki. The freshman shortstop roped a single into left, scoring Bragg to make it 4-3 and bringing Bartlett back to the dish. Bobby followed that up with another single to center, advancing to second when the Blue Jays tried to gun down Arakaki at third base. Tim Fauth batted in place of Justin Swanson—who exited in the 8^th after getting hit by a pitch—for the game's most crucial at-bat. Fauth worked a 2-0 count, but Elmhurst's Cole Bozzi came back with three perfect pitches to shut the door on North Park and give his Blue Jays a 4-3 victory. 

The Vikings emptied the tank to try and send off their seniors on the right foot, but the valiant late-inning effort came up just short. They'll still have the chance to capture victory three more times this season though, with road matchups still to come against Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan. Next for North Park will be their rematch with the Thunder on Friday, May 6^th, in which the Vikings will head out to Lee Pfund Stadium in Wheaton.