BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – After dropping their CCIW opener in Chicago on Saturday, the North Park baseball team roared back to steal the series against Illinois Wesleyan, picking up a doubleheader win in Bloomington on Sunday.
NPU Over IWU, 6-3
Viking starter Tyler Banks set the tone for the day with his game one start, mowing down the Titan hitters at their home field. In his eight innings of work, banks fanned seven, scattered nine hits, and walked just one. Illinois Wesleyan had a few seeing-eye singles to score two earned runs early against Banks, but timely extra-base hits for the Vikings would dispel the Titans.
The first timely hit was Garrett Bragg's RBI single up the middle in the second inning, scoring Carlos Martinez, before Nathan Sommerfeld cracked a two-run blast to center field in the third inning, putting NPU up 3-2. Next, in the fourth, Justin Swanson singled through the right side to plate Alex DiVito before sixth-inning RBIs by Sommerfeld – a single to right center – and Martinez – a squeeze bunt to bring in Swanson – put NPU up 6-2. The Titans got one back in the seventh, but Frank Kalemba slammed the door in the ninth, sitting the Titans down 1-2-3 for his first save of the season.
NPU Over IWU, 11-9
The second game was nothing short of a slugfest, as the Vikings and Titans totaled 24 hits, including eight for extra bases.
Illinois Wesleyan's Louis Perona scorched the first extra-base hit of the game when he left the yard to left-center, bringing home Titan center fielder Thomas Bleker in the two-run shot.
After a scoreless second inning for both teams, Sommerfeld singled home Swanson with a liner into center in the top of the third. Next, as Viking starter Sam Jackson tossed another zero on the board, North Park would burst ahead with a four-run fourth. Jim Zay got the rally going with a single up the middle while Bragg followed suit with a poke to left. DiVito's sacrifice bunt moved the duo up a base before Rylan Kawakami lined a two-run single into left-center field. The party continued when Reece Arakaki smacked his first extra-base hit with a double to left center before Swanson lofted his fifth round tripper of the season, also to left center.
Unfortunately, the 5-2 lead would evaporate when the Titans returned to the plate. In a long bottom of the fourth, IWU totaled five runs on four hits and two walks to grab a 7-5 lead. However, North Park punched back in the fifth and sixth innings with two and three runs, respectively. In the fifth, Zay launched his first homer of the season – a two-run shot to left center – to tie the game at 7-7. North Park would go ahead for good in the sixth when Sommerfeld played Swanson and Arakaki on a single up the middle before Bobby Bartlett slashed an opposite-field triple down the left field line, scoring Bartlett.
Now down by three, the Titans made things interesting with solo home runs from Hutson and Bleker in the eighth, but an insurance RBI groundout by Bragg in the ninth gave the Vikings a two-run cushion.
That's all that Viking reliever Ethan Condit would need, as he picked up a two-inning save, allowing just one hit while recording five of six outs via strikeout. Condit rode the momentum of fellow right-handed reliever Julian Ledezma, who was credited with the win after tossing 3.2 innings with 1 ER and 2 K's.
What's Next?
North Park (8-14, 2-1 CCIW) will travel to Waukesha, Wis. for a single game against Carroll University tomorrow, April 3. First pitch at Frame Park will be 6:30 PM CT.
