CAROL STREAM, Ill. (May 19, 2021) – Opening College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament play as three-time defending champions, the top-seeded North Central College baseball team held off a late Wheaton College run to hang on 8-7 in the opening game at Pfund Stadium.

North Central (34-7) struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first, as Luke Lehnen singled up the middle to begin the inning, while Dom Listi was hit by a pitch and Rob Marinec singled to load the bases with nobody out.

With the bags full of Cardinals, Justin Rios drove in the first run with the second hit by pitch of the inning, before Listi scored on a double play the following batter.  With two outs and a runner on third, Paul Beverly walked ahead of Joe Rizzo who legged out an infield single while scoring Marinec and giving North Central an early 3-0 lead.

That lead was quickly erased in the top of the third as Wheaton (16-26) countered with a three spot of its own, but North Central responded with its own trio of runs in the bottom half.  Generating a two-out rally with John Petty on third after leading off the frame with a walk, Luke Gregorio delivered a big two-out hit, a run-scoring single to right.  After Michael Stoltz extended the inning with a base-hit up the middle to roll over the lineup, Lehnen came through with a clutch two-RBI triple to left center, extending the lead back to three.

The two teams took that 6-3 score into the eighth where the Cardinals added a pair of insurance as Stoltz singled with one out, stole second and scored on a base-knock off the bat of Lehnen.  Listi then walked ahead of Marinec who singled to load the bases with one out, before Rios drew a bases loaded walk to increase the lead 8-3.

Those two runs proved huge for North Central, as Wheaton strung together four hits in the top of the ninth to plate four runs to fight back and trim the lead 8-7 with one out.  With the tying run at first, the Cardinals ended the game in thrilling fashion as Patrick Schaefer struck out Noah Ritchie swinging and Marinec picked Jesse Welch off first base to end the game with a strike-em-out, pick-em-off double play.

Luke Lamm went seven strong innings on the mound, earning the win to improve to a NCAA Division III-leading 11-0 on the season, allowing three earned on eight hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.  With the eight strikeouts, Lamm moves into a tie for second on the program's single-season list with 84 punch outs on the season.

Schaefer earned the save in the ninth, his eighth of the season, breaking the program's single-season mark while moving into a tie for second all-time with 13.

In addition to his two pickoffs on the afternoon, Marinec also went 3-for-5 from the plate with a triple, and run scored, while Lehnen also finished 3-for-5 with a triple, three RBI and two runs scored.  Stoltz was 2-for-3 with a walk, stolen base and two runs scored, while Rios reached twice and drove in a pair.

The 34 win this season for North Central are tied for second-most in program history, and can tie the record of 35 set in 1991 with one more win.

The Cardinals continue CCIW Tournament play tomorrow, taking on fourth-seeded Carroll University at 11 a.m. at Pfund Stadium.  The full tournament schedule is available HERE.