In his first career start, freshman Alex Vannucci pitched a complete-game five-hitter to lead North Park past North Central, 4-2, Sunday afternoon in Naperville.

The Vikings got off to a quick start, scoring two runs in the first.  Zak Worsley led off with a walk and Eric Sousanes singled; Joe Belmonte hit an RBI single, and Dan Sabin followed with a sacrifice fly to give Vannucci two runs to work with.  Vannucci sent down the side in order in the first two innings and a bloop single in the third.

Worsley worked a one-out walk in the fourth, stole second, and rode home on a double by Sousanes.  Tommy Endres cracked a single to drive in Sousanes for a 4-0 lead.

The Cardinals mounted a brief two-out rally in the fourth, scoring once on a hit batsman and a pair of singles, but Vannucci induced a groundball out to end the threat.  North Central scored their second run in the fifth on a walk, an error, and a double, but that would end the scoring for both teams.  Vannucci allowed just one more hit over the last four innings, an infield single in the ninth, for a complete game and his third victory of the season.

Coach Luke Johnson was pleased with the overall team effort.

"I thought Alex pitched with a lot of poise, which is hard for a first-year guy to do, especially with a series on the line," he said. "Our starting shortstop [Sousanes] made a couple of big-time plays to end some innings."

He was also upbeat about taking the season series from North Central.

"I feel like our team did a very good job of executing, playing against three very good starting pitchers who showed why their numbers are as good as they are," he said.  "I feel like our offense worked very hard to the plan we had set.  I thought we got quality starting pitching, and when our bullpen was called upon, they did what they needed to do."

Sousanes, Endres, and Mike Coduto were the Viking batters with two-hit games.