May 21, 2021 – Needing to win twice to stay alive in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, the North Central College baseball team completed the task at hand, opening with a 9-2 win over Elmhurst University at Pfund Stadium before returning to Zimmerman Stadium to fight out a tough 5-4 victory over Augustana College in the nightcap.

With the two wins North Central improves to 36-8 on the season, breaking the school record for single-season victories set 30 years ago in 1991.

North Central (36-8) jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three innings in the opener against Elmhurst at Pfund Stadium as Paul Beverly started the scoring with a solo homerun in the bottom of the second.

In the bottom of the third, Michael Stoltz legged out an infield single with one away, before advancing to second on a balk.  Luke Lehnen then reached on an error, sending Stoltz to third, before Dom Listi walked to load the bases, still with one out in the inning.

Rob Marinec stepped to the dish with the bases full of Cardinals and lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score Stoltz.  With all runners advancing on the sac fly, Justin Rios delivered a huge two-out two-RBI base hit through the left side to increase the Cardinal advantage 4-0.

After Elmhurst (18-25) cut the lead in half with a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings, North Central countered with a three spot in the bottom of the fifth.  Lehnen led off with a triple to right center and scored shortly after on another Bluejay error, allowing Listi to reach second.

Listi then stole third and scored on a balk, before Marinec launched his sixth homerun of the season, the second solo shot of the game for the Cardinals to push the lead to 7-2.

The Cardinals added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI-singles from Lehnen and Listi while Jason Shanner finished what he started on the mound.  Shanner allowed two runs over his nine innings with nine strikeouts to just one walk, improving to 6-2 on the season.

The win over Elmhurst is the 16^th straight for North Central dating back to 2016, taking all five meetings this season over the Bluejays.

Stoltz finished 2-for-4 from the nine hole with two runs scored, while Lehnen was 2-for-5 with a triple, three runs scored and one RBI.

In an absolute thriller of a nightcap between the top two seeded teams in the tournament, it was a pitcher's duel early between Nicholas Rietz and Augustana's Max Mead before the Vikings opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth, but Rietz escaped a bases loaded no out situation with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to get out of the jam allowing just the one run.

After five scoreless frames for the offense, back-to-back singles from Marinec and Rios put runners on first and third with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth.  Following a pitching change, Marinec scored on a wild pitch two batters later to tie the score 1-1.

North Central took its first lead of the contest in the bottom of the seventh, as Lehnen led off with a triple to deep center field and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Marinec to a couple batters later to take a 2-1 lead.

The Vikings (35-9) countered with a run in the top of the eight to once again knot the score at two apiece, but the Cardinals responded with a vengeance in the bottom half.  Beverly singled to center to start the rally, before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Joe Rizzo.

Luke Gregorio then blooped a base hit down the right field line before Stoltz walked to load the bases.  With the go-ahead run at third in the form of Beverly, Lehnen lofted one in the air to right just deep enough to score Beverly and overtake the lead 3-2.

With Jared Wojcik pinch running for Gregorio, Listi followed with what proved to be a huge two-out base hit up the middle to score Wojcik, while Stoltz scored on a throwing error by the Viking center fielder to push the lead 5-2.

Stoltz's unearned run ended up costing the Vikings in the end, as Augustana made a run in the ninth, pushing across two runs to cut the lead 5-4 and had two runners on with two out before Patrick Schaefer closed the door, inducing a foul pop-up to Marinec to clinch his ninth save of the season.

Rietz received a no decision, allowing the one run over four innings with five strikeouts, while Tyler Jones provided three big innings in relief, letting up just one run on one hit.  Nolan Shannon was the winning pitcher, tossing a scoreless eighth inning to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Lehnen added a 2-for-3 showing in game two with a walk, triple, sacrifice fly, run scored and walk.  Lehnen's two triples on the day move him into a tie for the NCAA Division III lead with teammate Dom Listi, as each have recorded 10 three-baggers on the season.

Beverly added a 2-for-3 showing with a hit by pitch and run scored, while Rizzo was also 2-for-3 and Marinec finished 1-for-4 with a RBI and run scored.

North Central advances to day four of the 2021 CCIW Tournament, taking on Carroll University in another elimination game on Saturday, May 22 at Pfund Stadium.  The full tournament schedule is available HERE.