CAROL STREAM, Ill. (May 22, 2021) – Needing three wins at the beginning of championship Saturday at the 2021 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, the North Central College baseball team nearly pulled off the improbable but ran out of steam in inning 26 to drop the tournament finale 4-3 at the hands of Millikin University.

Playing an incredible 27 innings on the day, the Cardinals were just six outs from capturing their fourth-straight CCIW Tournament title but left everything out on the field on Saturday.  The Cardinals (38-9) opened with a 13-3 win over Carroll University to start the day, before scoring a 6-5 win over Millikin to force the winner take all final.

With the two wins, head coach Ed Mathey eclipses 400 wins in a Cardinal uniform, the first coach in program history to reach the 400-win plateau.

Scoring in just two innings in the opener, the Cardinals overcame a three-run deficit with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth as a pair of hit by pitches and a base hit loaded the bases with nobody out.  Brent Swenson then stepped to the plate and delivered a two-run scoring single to put the Cardinals on the board and trim the Pioneer (22-22) lead 3-2.

A couple batters later, Luke Lehnen knotted the score at three with a RBI-single through the left side.  With the bases still loaded full of Cardinals, Dom Listi delivered the game's big hit, absolutely crushing a grand slam over the right field fence, giving North Central a 7-3 advantage.

Michael Patterson entered from the Cardinal bullpen still trailing 3-0 and provided 4 2/3 huge innings of relief despite entering the day with one inning pitched all season. Patterson allowed just four hits, striking out two and walking none to earn his first collegiate victory.

The Cardinal offense meanwhile added a six spot in the bottom of the eighth as Lehnen and Listi each delivered RBI-singles, before Justin Rios ended the game early with a two-run shot deposited over the right field fence to close the game 13-3.

Listi finished 2-for-5 from the plate with a career-high six RBI, while Lehnen was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and RBI.  Rios was 1-for-3 with two hit by pitches, two runs scored and two RBI, while Stoltz scored twice and Swenson drove in a pair.

Game two featured three gutsy pitching performances as Luke Lamm started on only two days rest, going 6 1/3 innings to allow three runs on three hits while striking out eight and walking none.  After entering in relief yesterday for four innings, Tyler Jones threw 2/3 of an inning before Jason Shanner gutted out two innings after throwing 130 pitches in a complete game yesterday morning.

North Central jumped ahead right away in the bottom of the first, as Marinec stepped into his seventh homerun of the season, a two-run moon shot to left field to take an early 2-0 lead.

Beverly got in on the long ball action in the bottom of the second, launching a solo bomb that hugged the right field foul pole and extended the lead 3-0.

Millikin cut into the lead with a run in the top of the third, but the Cardinals countered with two more in the bottom of the sixth as Jared Wojcik tripled to score Marinec before Beverly sent Wojcik home on a sacrifice fly the following batter to extend the lead 5-1.

The Big Blue fought back to tie the game 5-5 with two in each of the seventh and eighth innings, but the Cardinals got the last laugh as Marinec doubled to lead off the bottom of the eighth and scored shortly after as Rios delivered the game-winning hit, a line drive base hit up the middle.

Shanner then retired the side in order in the top of the ninth to earn his second win in as many days, improving to 7-2 on the season.  With his two strikeouts, Shanner moves into fourth on the program's single-season strikeout list.

Lamm received a no decision but broke the single-season strikeout record as his eight on the day give him 92 on the season, breaking John Ferri's record of 89 set in 1969.

Marinec led the offense with a 3-for-4 showing, moving into a tie for third all-time, tying Joe Turek with 26 career bombs.  Marinec added three runs scored and two RBI in game two, while Wojcik was 2-for-4 with a run scored and RBI and Beverly drove in a pair.

The Big Blue (31-14) struck first in game three with a run in the bottom of the third, but North Central responded to tie the game in the top of the fourth as Beverly unloaded on his second homerun of the day, another solo shot to right to knot the score 1-1.

In the top of the fifth, Stoltz lined a one-out double to right center and quickly came around to score on a RBI-single off the bat of Lehnen to take a 2-1 advantage.

After Millikin came back to tie the score yet again with a run in the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinal offense pushed across an unearned run as a passed ball allowed Listi to score the go-ahead run after singling to lead off the frame.

Ryan Behling gutted out another incredible pitching performance for the Cardinals, tossing seven innings on one day's rest to allow just a pair of runs while striking out five and walking none, receiving a no decision at the end of the day.

The Cardinal staff simply ran out of gas in the bottom of the eighth, as two-straight hits to lead off the inning led to a pair of Big Blue runs while North Central went down in order in the top of the ninth.

Lehnen recorded two of the five North Central hits on the day, going 2-for-4 atop the lineup with a walk and RBI.  Beverly was 1-for-3 with a walk and homerun, while Stoltz and Listi each scored once.

Millikin will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III postseason, while North Central awaits its fate in next week's regional action, as the postseason selections will be announced at NCAA.com at 11:59 (ET) on Sunday, May 23.