ELMHURST, Ill. – North Park baseball is playing with the wind at their backs through the end of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) season. The Vikings swept a road series at Elmhurst this past Friday and Saturday, improving their CCIW winning streak to seven games in a row.
In Friday's series opener, Viking starter Bobby Bartlett nearly tossed a complete game. The veteran lefty dominated the Bluejays, striking out seven in 8.2 innings while allowing only four hits and one earned run.
The Viking offense went ahead early on a three-run homer to left-center by Justin Swanson in the first inning, his seventh of the season. Elmhurst starter J.D. Knight slowed the Vikings down after the first inning, tossing six shutout innings before the Vikings struck again. In the eighth, Nathan Sommerfeld cracked an RBI double, scoring Swanson, before Rylan Kawakami brought Sommerfeld home on an RBI groundout. Elmhurst got one run back on an RBI double by Drew Raspolich, but the Vikings came away with the 5-1 series-opening win.
In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the two teams traded leads into the sixth inning. An RBI double by Sommerfeld in the first and solo shot by Justin Swanson in the fourth forced a 2-2 tie before the Bluejays tacked on two runs in the fifth. Another Sommerfeld double in the sixth put the Vikings within one before they would pour it on in the seventh. The Vikings utilized four bunts and five hits to score six runs. Reece Arakaki drove a two-run single into right-center, and Swanson was intentionally walked to load the bases for Sommerfeld. Sommerfeld was hit by a pitch, scoring Arakaki, before Porter cracked a two-run double to right-center. Garrett Bragg ended the scoring with a squeeze bunt, plating Sommerfeld to establish a 9-4 lead.
Swanson continued to wreak havoc, scorched an opposite-field double down the right-field line to score Arakaki and Carlos Martinez.
On the mound, Frank Kalemba worked 4.1 innings of relief to get the win, fanning five while allowing just one earned run.
In the final game of the series, Elmhurst led all the way into the ninth inning. The Bluejays' Trey Romay started the scoring with a two-run homer to right-center in the first inning before North Park's Martinez drove a sac fly to score Bragg in the second. Next, the Vikings and Bluejays traded solo home runs; Elmhurst starting pitcher Troy Taller in the third inning and North Park third baseman Jim Zay in the seventh.
However, North Park finally got Taller out of the game in the ninth inning, igniting the Vikings' comeback. The Vikings batted around in the ninth to complete their comeback, highlighted by an RBI single from Reece Arakaki, two-run double by Swanson, and pinch-hit RBI knock for Kawakami. After all this, North Park led 6-3.
On the mound, Tyler Banks closed out a quality start by Ethan Condit, who tossed seven innings while punching out eight batters, a season high for him. Banks secured the win, allowing just one hit across his two innings of shutout work, striking out four.
What's Next?
North Park (15-21, 9-6 CCIW), steps out of CCIW play one more time on Tuesday, May 2, for a rematch at the University of Dubuque. First pitch in the road game is set for 3:00 PM CT.
