ELMHURST, Ill. (May 11, 2021) – The North Central College baseball team made College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) history on Tuesday in a 8-1 win over Elmhurst University, capturing at least a share of its record-setting sixth-consecutive regular season conference title, a feat no team has accomplished since the start of conference play in 1947.

The Cardinals (31-6, 25-4 CCIW) have now won 15-straight games over Elmhurst dating back to 2016 and have been crowned regular season champions of the CCIW every season since 2015. 

Head coach Ed Mathey also ties Carthage College's Augie Schmidt IV for most conference titles among active CCIW coaches with his ninth overall conference championship (1994, 1996, 1998, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021).

North Central struck first right off the bat, as Luke Lehnen led off the game with a triple to right and scored two batters later on a wild pitch to quickly give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead after half an inning.

Adding to the lead in the top of the fourth, Justin Rios singled to left to start the frame ahead of Jared Wojcik who drew a walk.  After the pair moved up a base on a Paul Beverly sacrifice bunt, Joe Rizzo delivered the big hit, a two-RBI single to increase the lead 3-0.

Elmhurst (17-20, 12-17 CCIW) took a run back in the bottom half of the fourth, while the two teams took a 3-1 score into the seventh before Rob Marinec doubled to start the inning and scored on a base-hit off the bat of Wojcik two batters later.

The Cardinals put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the ninth, as Beverly walked and scored the first run on a wild pitch.  Michael Stoltz drove home a run later in the inning on a fielder's choice, before Trey Roach finished the scoring with a two-run double to right.

Starter Nicholas Rietz shut down the Bluejay lineup over his five innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out four to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the season.  Tyler Jones then went two hitless with four strikeouts, while Nolan Shannon and Patrick Schaefer finished off the final two frames without allowing another hit.

Five Cardinals finished with multiple hits, as Luke Gregorio finished 3-for-4 with a hit by pitch and Rizzo finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.  Wojcik added a 2-for-3 showing with a double, walk, RBI and run scored.

Marinec and Rios each finished 2-for-5 with a run scored, while Lehnen was 1-for-4 with a triple, two walks and two runs scored.

North Central can clinch the CCIW regular season title outright on Friday, May 14, hosting North Park University at 3 p.m. at Zimmerman Stadium.