CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park baseball got back in the win column and kept its home record unblemished on Sunday afternoon, enjoying an 8-5 win over the Carroll University Pioneers. Sophomore designated hitter Taylor Joseph went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a three-run homer, three runs scored, to lead the Vikings to their fourth league win of the season.
Carroll struck first, when Brody Ferko was hit by a pitch, a failed pickoff from starter LeBaron Lee, Jr. moved him to third, and Joey Appino brought him home with a groundout to shortstop. Lee settled in to record a strikeout and flyout to end the inning, but Carroll extended its lead to 3-0 in the second when Evan Becker led off with a solo home run to right field and later in the inning Leo Matuga scored on a sacrifice bunt following a throwing error.
North Park answered in the bottom of the second when sophomore first baseman Enzo Vertucci launched a solo homer to right-center, trimming the deficit to 3-1 with his second home run in as many days.
Lee continued to compete on the mound, working through traffic in the third and minimizing further damage in the fourth despite another Carroll run scoring on a double steal. Lee recorded five strikeouts over six innings, allowing four runs (two earned) to keep things close.
Momentum swung sharply in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore shortstop Kupono Akaka singled to right-center to start the inning and Joseph followed by driving a ground-rule double over the left-center field fence to put two runners into scoring position with no outs. Next, junior catcher Reyn Matsuzaki delivered the breakthrough hit with a two-RBI single to left, scoring Akaka and Joseph and closing the gap to one run at 4-3. North Park threatened further in the inning, but Carroll pitcher Braden Lewis managed to strand a runner at second.
The Vikings would tack on two in the sixth. After Akaka lined out to the pitcher, Joseph doubled again to left-center before advancing to third on Matsuzaki's groundout. Vertucci singled through the left side to bring Joseph home, and senior left fielder Fabian Cruz cracked an RBI double off the right-center field wall, scoring Marvucic and giving North Park its first lead of the game at 5-4.
Carroll pushed back in the seventh, scoring on a two-out RBI single from Appino after a failed pickoff allowed Ferko to advance to third, tying things up at five apiece.
However, the biggest swing of the game would arrive in the home half of the inning. With two on and one out, Joseph drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Isaac Verbruggen over the stands for a three-run home run, giving North Park its largest lead of the day at 8-5.
Reliever Jacob Titsworth handled the seventh and part of the eighth, allowing one unearned run and recording a strikeout to begin the eighth. Senior right-hander Ethan Condit entered with a runner on third and one out in the eighth and immediately limited Carroll's threat, inducing a strikeout and a flyout to center to end the inning. Condit dominated the ninth as well, retiring all three batters faced with a groundout followed by two swinging strikeouts to earn the save – the 12th of his Viking career. North Park's pitching trio combined for nine strikeouts, only two walks, and scattered eight hits across nine innings.
Top Players
North Park
- Taylor Joseph – 3-for-4, 2 doubles, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R
- Reyn Matsuzaki – 3-for-5, 2 RBI
- Enzo Vertucci – 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
- Fabian Cruz – RBI double,
- LeBaron Lee, Jr. – 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R (2 ER), 5 K
- Ethan Condit – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K
Carroll
- Evan Becker – 1-for-2, HR, 2 R, 2 SB, HBP ×2
- Joey Appino – 3 RBI (in three separate at-bats), 2-for-3
What's Next?
North Park (14-8, 4-2 CCIW) continues a three-game home stretch on Wednesday, April 1, against the Wheaton College Thunder (10-11, 3-2 CCIW). First pitch at the Holmgren Athletic Complex is set for 4:00 PM CT.
