North Park split a twinbill with CCIW foe Carthage Tuesday afternoon, taking game one, 10-6, before being edged 16-15 in ten innings in game two.
The Vikings took an early 3-0 lead in the first contest on RBIs by Joe Belmonte, Dan Sabin, and Brett Bernal. They added a run in the second when Mario Creecy singled home Tyler Woolbright. The Red Men battled back in the third with two runs on three hits against Viking hurler Kenny Blanchard, but North Park answered in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own as Brett Bernal connected for his fourth home run, a blast to center field.
Carthage's Mark Mantucca led off the fourth with a solo home run to pull the Red Men to within two, but a three-run double by Mike Coduto in the fifth put North Park up 9-3. A two-run round-tripper by Brian Huntsinger made it 9-5, but a solo shot by Tommy Endres gave the Vikings an insurance run and a 10-5 lead. After the Red Men scored once in the eighth on back-to-back doubles, Blanchard was lifted in favor of reliever John Nemcek, who held the Carthage batters hitless for the duration.
Blanchard (1-0) went 7 2/3 innings, striking out seven for his first win of the season. Endres, Sabin, and Bernal each had two hits.
In game two, the Vikings nearly overcame several defensive mistakes but fell to the Red Men, in extra frames. Both teams tallied a pair of runs in the first – Carthage took advantage of the first of four Viking errors to score two unearned runs, while North Park got run-scoring hits from Endres and Belmonte to tie the game after one inning. The Vikings took a 5-2 lead in the second on an RBI bloop double by Eric Sousanes and a two-run single by Endres. Carthage pulled to within one in the third on a hit batsman, three singles, and a double play.
After North Park added a run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Woolbright, Carthage struck for six runs – three unearned – on six hits and two costly errors against Meger and reliever Kyle Kennedy. An RBI single by Belmonte in the bottom of the fourth made it 10-7, but in the fifth Carthage batted around for the second straight inning, taking advantage of a walk and two hit batsmen. Reliever Matt Peterson finally ended the rally with a flyout, but not before Carthage had built a 15-7 lead.
A four-run rally in the sixth gave the Vikings some life. A two-run triple by Sousanes and Belmonte's first career home run made it 15-11. They added a pair of runs in the seventh, courtesy of RBIs by Woolbright and Sousanes. In the eighth, Sabin's two-run homer to right center tied the game.
In the meantime, Peterson had held the Carthage batters in check over four innings, scattering three hits. Each team was retired in order in the ninth, but an error to open the tenth, a sacrifice bunt, and a base hit gave Carthage an unearned run and a 16-15 lead. The Vikings mounted a valiant rally in the bottom of the tenth as Sabin and Bernal both singled to put runners on the corners, but Coduto was caught looking at a close pitch to end the game.
Peterson was charged with the loss despite being the most effective pitcher by far for either team, working five innings of four-hit relief, yielding just one unearned run while fanning four. Belmonte (4-for-6, three RBIs) led the hitting attack, while Sousanes and Endres each drove in four runs.