DECATUR, Ill. -- North Park baseball dropped a 12-2 game on day three of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament Friday night at Workman Family Baseball Field. The Vikings totaled nine hits and pushed across runs in the third and seventh innings, but Millikin kept its distance from North Park all the way through to advance to the championship game.
North Park starter LeBaron Lee, Jr. delivered a strong opening effort, working efficiently through the early innings and keeping the Big Blue in check before Millikin began to break through in the middle frames. Millikin scratched across the game's first run in the second inning. After a leadoff walk and a double to left, Anderson Decker lifted a sacrifice fly to center, plating Mick Niebrugge for a 1-0 lead.
Millikin quickly extended the lead in the top of the third. Pete Britton singled, stole second and eventually scored when Sam Bushurchopped an RBI groundout to second base. North Park answered in the bottom of the third when senior center fielder Joe Perona drew a walk and moved to third on a sophomore shortstop Taylor Joseph single to left-center. Sophomore first baseman John Greenwood followed with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing Perona home to close the gap to 2-1.
However, the Big Blue added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, highlighted by an inside-the-park home run to right-center by Gage Reynolds in the fifth, pushing the lead to 4-1.
Lee settled down to limit further damage, exiting after five innings with the Vikings still within striking distance. Millikin, however, tacked on three runs in the sixth, using an RBI double from Ty Cribbett, a sacrifice fly by Carder Reich, and an RBI double by Easton Steck to extend the lead to 7–1.
North Park manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh when Greenwood reached on a single alongside junior catcher Reyn Matsuzaki and sophomore right fielder Vinnie Marvucic bounced a ground-rule double to right field to score Greenwood and cut the deficit to 7-2.
Millikin put the game away in the eighth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs off of six walks and just one hit. Millikin's pitching staff held the Vikings scoreless over the final two innings to seal the win. Millikin's Matthew Brummer, Nolan Reiman, and Gavin Houchins combined for eight innings of work, allowing only one earned run while fanning 10.
Top Performers
North Park
Millikin
- Gage Reynolds: 2-for-4, 2B, inside-park HR, 2 RBI
- Easton Steck: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 2B
- Pete Britton: 1-for-2, 2 runs, RBI
- Anderson Decker: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
What's Next?
North Park (24-18) faces fourth-seeded Carthage College (19-22) tomorrow, May 9, at Workman Family Field in an elimination game. The winner will face Millikin in the championship at 3:00 PM CT, needing to win Saturday's game and the "if necessary" game on Sunday to secure the tournament championship. First pitch in the Firebirds v. Vikings matchup is set for 11:00 AM CT.
