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North Park University Athletics

peronaabiwu25at
3
North Park NORTH PA 6-13
8
Winner Millikin MILLIKIN 11-10
North Park NORTH PA
6-13
3
Final
8
Millikin MILLIKIN
11-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
North Park NORTH PA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 9 3
Millikin MILLIKIN 2 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 X 8 6 0

W: C. Akins (2-1) L: Jackson, Samuel (1-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Tyler Woolbright

Big Blue hands Vikings first loss in CCIW play

Perona goes 4-for-5 to lead all hitters on Monday night

DECATUR, Ill. – North Park University Baseball suffered their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) loss on Monday evening, falling to 2024 co-champs Millikin University (11-10, 1-2 CCIW) by a score of 8-3. The Vikings out-hit the Big Blue 9-6 but could not overcome a rough sixth inning.

In the 1st inning, North Park junior right fielder Joe Perona tripled to right center and scored on junior second baseman Rylan Kawakami's ground out to second base, giving North Park an early lead of 1-0. Millikin responded with Eliot Fulscher walking and advancing to second on Sam Bushur's single before Andy Niebrugge then singled up the middle, driving in Fulscher. Bushur scored on an NPU infield error, taking a 2-1 lead through the first inning.

In the 3rd inning, Millikin's Joey Niebrugge doubled to right center and later scored on a wild pitch, extending Millikin's lead to 3-1. In the 4th inning, Niebrugge doubled again, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch, bringing the score to 4-1.

The 6th inning saw Millikin's Hayden Stork double and advance to third on a balk. Niebrugge doubled to right field, driving in Stork. Next, Fulscher reached first on another infield error, allowing Niebrugge and Ty Cribbett to score. McGill concluded the four-run sixth by scoring on a balk as Millikin held an 8-1 lead.

In the 9th inning, Perona singled and stole second before junior first baseman Enzo Vertucci singled to center field, driving in Perona and senior center fielder Alex DiVito, giving NPU some life with an 8-3 score. However, this is as close as the Vikings would get as the Big Blue held on to the 8-3 win.

Top Performers:

Millikin

  • J. Niebrugge: 2 doubles, 2 runs, 1 RBI
  • H. Stork: 2 hits, 1 double, 1 RBI
  • C. Akins: 6 IP, 6 K's, 1 ER, 3 H, W

North Park

  • J. Perona: 4 hits, 1 triple, 1 double, 2 stolen bases
  • R. Matsuzaki: 2 hits, 1 double
  • E. Vertucci: 1 hit, 2 RBIs
  • Samuel Jackson: 5 IP, 4 K's 2 ER
  • Griffin Self: nearly perfect in two scoreless innings: 1 K, 1 HBP, 0 H
What's Next?

North Park (6-13, 2-1 CCIW) is scheduled to host Augustana College (9-8, 0-1 CCIW) on Wednesday, April 2, at 4:00 PM CT.


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