Apr. 16, 2016 – The North Central College baseball team powered past Illinois Wesleyan University, 9-1 in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday behind a stellar performance on the mound from Evan Blunk, before a wild game two ended with a walkoff single in the bottom of the 10^th from Bobby Smith to secure the sweep 7-6.
 
North Central (19-4, 8-3 CCIW) gave Blunk a 2-0 lead early, as Michael Mateja led off the bottom of the second with a walk and promptly came around to score on a double to deep right center off the bat of Nick Sotiros.  After advancing to third on the throw home in an attempt to nab Mateja, Nick Sotiros would come around to score on a sacrifice fly from brother Dan Sotiros two batters later, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead after two innings played.
 
Illinois Wesleyan (15-12, 7-4 CCIW) cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the third as Jonathan Broadbear doubled to lead off the inning and would come around to score on another double three batters later, as Jarrod Juskiewicz lined a two-out double down the left field line.
 
The Cardinals busted things wide open with a six spot in the bottom of the fifth, as a costly Titan error would have ended the inning unscathed, but North Central took advantage of the extra out and plated six, two-out runs.
 
Jeremy Quade reached on the error to extend the inning, while Sing Fong drove home a pair immediately after, scoring Quade and Kyle Piotrowski who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  After Smith was hit by another pitch and Chris Hill walked to load the bases, Fong trotted home on a wild pitch to plate the third run of the inning.
 
Titan starter Nick Huskisson was pulled after issuing another walk to Mateja to once again load the bases, while Nick Sotiros gave the new Titan pitcher a warm welcome with a two-RBI single to left.  Piotrowski stepped to the plate for the second time in the inning and drove a single to center, scoring Mateja while giving the Cardinals an 8-1 lead.
 
Blunk settled in nicely after the third, keeping the Titan batters off balance over the next four innings, but was pulled with two runners on and two out in the eighth in favor of reliever Michael Sweeney.  After walking a batter to load the bases, Sweeney induced a groundout to third to end the inning, while Blunk ended his day allowing just one run on seven hits, over 7 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking two to improve to 3-0 on the season.
 
Fong led all batters with a 3-for-4 performance from the plate in the opener with a hit by pitch, while also scoring once and driving home a pair.  Nick Sotiros finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, whileMatt Sutherland also added a pair of base knocks.
 
The nightcap began as a pitcher's dual through five, as Illinois Wesleyan held a 1-0 after producing a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third off of Cardinal starter Jordan Van Dyck.
 
The Titans added another run in the sixth on a Tim Smyk RBI single, while starter Sean Cooney held the Cardinal offense to only two hits through the first five innings.
 
Things changed in the bottom of the sixth for North Central, as Hill started the rally with a leadoff double down the left field line.  Mateja followed with a single and advanced to third on an error by the Titan left fielder, while Hill advanced to third, while Nick Sotiros drove Hill home with a RBI groundout to second base, cutting the Titan lead 2-1.
 
After Mateja advance to third on the groundout, David Rico tied the game 2-2 with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Mateja, while running Cooney from the game in the process.
 
North Central could not carry that momentum into the top of the seventh however, as Illinois Wesleyan took the lead right back with a run on a double to left off the bat of Huskisson, scoring Mike Plecki who walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.
 
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Mateja and Nick Sotiros each singled to start the inning, while Rico lined the third straight base hit of the inning to left, scoring Mateja and knotting the score at three.
 
After a popped up bunt attempt and an error on the base paths nearly ran the Cardinals out of the inning,Jeremy Quade stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest hit if his young Cardinal career, a two-out, two-RBI double to deep left field, giving North Central their first lead of the game 5-3 heading into the ninth.
 
All the Cardinals needed to do was hold the Titans in the ninth, but Van Dyck just ran out of steam late.  Leading 5-3 with runners on first and third and two outs, Mitch Pfeiffer extended the contest while drawing the Titans to within one with a RBI single through the right side.  Juskiewicz stepped to the plate, already 3-for-4 off Van Dyck, and quickly turned the tables launching a two-RBI double off the left field fence to give Illinois Wesleyan a 6-5 lead.
 
Despite the heartbreaking top of the ninth, the Cardinals shrugged it off and got back to work as Smith led off with a double right field to spark the Cardinal fire.  Hill moved Smith to third on a groundout to second, while the Titans moved their infield in to cut down the runner at third at the plate.  The move proved to be successful as a groundout to shortstop the following batter left Smith standing on third and left the Cardinals down to their last out.
 
This time it was Nick Sotiros who provided the two-out heroics, driving one nearly out of the park, but settled with a run-scoring triple to once again tie the game at six.
 
Nick Anderson shut down the Titans with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the 10^th, while Dan Sotiros took one for the team to lead off the bottom half of the inning.  After two quick outs, Piotrowski lined a single to center, extending the inning while Smith sent the Cardinals home winners with a walkoff single to center, clinching the series sweep and moving North Central into first place in the CCIW standings.
 
Smith and Nick Sotiros both finished 3-for-5 from the dish in game two, while Quade was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a stolen base.  Mateja also added a pair of hits to go along with a run scored.
 
Anderson earned the victory on the mound for North Central, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless frames, striking out a pair.
 
Juskiewicz led the Titan offense with a 4-for-5 performance in game two, finishing the doubleheader 6-for-10 from the plate with three RBI.
 
North Central will go for the season sweep over Illinois Wesleyan tomorrow at Horenberger Stadium, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.