GREENWOOD, Ind. -- North Park Baseball opened their 2025 season on Sunday afternoon at Center Grove High School, facing the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and Franklin College Grizzlies in an afternoon doubleheader. The Vikings dropped both games; 9-8 to the Cougars and 5-2 to the Grizzlies.
Against the Cougars, North Park jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to an RBI hit-by-pitch from freshman third baseman Taylor Joseph, a double play ball that allowed freshman designated hitter Vinnie Marvucic to score, and an opposite field, solo home run by sophomore catcher Reyn Matsuzaki. However, the Cougars responded with a two-out, two-run triple by Tyler Dorsch in their half of the third, closing the distance to 3-2.
Concordia added four more runs in the fourth inning, as Cougar shortstop Xavier Zagerman did the heavy lifting with a three-run home run. The Cougars further extended their lead to 7-3 in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk.
Following four scoreless trips to the plate, the Vikings put five runs on the board in the eighth. Senior second baseman Riley Jepsen, Joseph, and senior left fielder all earned free passes to load the bases. Keeping with the trend, junior right fielder Joe Perona watched ball four go by to score the first run of the inning.
A pitching change broke the action before senior center fielder Alex DiVito drove a sac fly, plating Joseph. Next, Matsuzaki uncorked a pull-side homer to right field, giving NPU an 8-7 lead with his second long ball of the game.
Unfortunately, it was a slow burn for the Cougars in the bottom of the ninth for an eventual walkoff. Four singles allowed two runs to score as second baseman Yeashon Boswell delivered the final blow with two-out single into center.
Things would not get better for NPU against the Grizzlies. Franklin's Wilburn and Campbell combined to fan 12 Viking hitters and allow just four hits. Two of those four hits came from junior designated hitter Rylan Kawakami, whose 2-for-4 day with a double represented the only NPU player with a multi-hit performance in game two.
Junior right hander Zach Price had 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, fanning two Grizzly batters and allowing only two hits. Junior right hander had the game two start, navigating four innings with six K's.
What's Next?
North Park (0-2) has an exhibition game at UIC this coming Tuesday, Feb. 25. First pitch at Curtis Granderson Stadium against the Flames will be 4:00 PM CT.
