CHICAGO, Ill. -- Nearing the halfway point of the season, North Park is playing some of its best baseball in years. The Vikings, who are on a six-game win streak and have won nine of their last ten games, hold national top-50 rankings in 10 different categories, as of Thursday morning.
Of the 383 Division III schools ranked, Coach Luke Johnson's squad is 6th in stolen bases (64), 8th in stolen bases per game (3.76), 9th in hit-by-pitch (41), 21st in runs scored (154), 25th in walks (95), 31st in on-base percentage (.442), 34th in fielding percentage (.972), 35th in hits (185), 46th in WHIP (1.41), and 47th in runs per game (9.1).
The Vikings have double-digit hits and runs scored going back five-straight games now, alongside scoring in 18 of their past 20 innings at the plate. North Park has four players with noteworthy rankings in Division III Baseball.
Sophomore outfielder Joe Perona swiped two more bags in Wednesday's 19-6 dusting of Concordia, bringing his season total to 20, good for second in the country and just one bag behind DIII leader Jacob Watson of Rutgers-Camden. Perona is also second in the country with 1.25 steals per game.
Junior outfielder Alex DiVito's 34 hits lead the CCIW and rank 8th in Division III baseball. DiVito's 13 steals also rank 20th in the country and his .479 batting average is currently 53rd. He leads the Vikings with 11 multi-hit games, including three 4-hit performances.
Senior second baseman Justin Swanson and junior outfielder Nate Sommerfeld have been plunked a dozen times this season, ranking 6th in DIII. Swanson leads the CCIW and is 14th in the country with 25 runs scored and he's 16th in DIII and first in the CCIW with 16 walks.
Sommerfeld is the league's top run-producer, driving in 23 runners which is good for 37th in Division III. He leads the Vikings with seven multi-RBI games, including two different games with 4 RBI.
Defensively, the Vikings are picking it at a .972 mark (t-1st in CCIW with Millikin) alongside 11 double plays and only 17 errors in 422 chances.
Sophomore right handers Kevin Ayeski and Brandon Leidolph are second in the CCIW in strikeouts (26) and opposing batting average (.183), respectively. Both starters have three wins on the season. The NPU pitching staff is second in the CCIW in strikeouts (126), third in ERA (4.99), and leads the league with a .249 BAA.
North Park is back to work this coming Sunday, March 24, against Dominican University. First pitch at Wintrust Field will be 1:00 PM.
