MOLINE, Ill. (Apr. 9, 2017) – Riding a five-game win streak, the North Central College baseball team swept both games of a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader on Sunday at 14^th-ranked Augustana College, racking up 34 hits on the afternoon while Michael Mateja hit for the cycle in game two.
 
Augustana (18-6, 4-4 CCIW) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings in the opener before the North Central bats came alive, as the Cardinals scored in four of the final six innings.
 
The Cardinal comeback began with a run in the top of the fourth, as Sing Fong singled to left to lead off the inning, followed by another single from John Carmody while the two advance a base on a sacrifice bunt from Mike Noesen a batter later.  Matt Sutherland came through with a RBI groundout to shortstop, scoring Fong in the process.
 
North Central plated another run in the top of the fifth, as Nick Sotiros doubled home Jeremy Quade who led off the inning with a single to center, before the Cardinals tied the game 5-5 in the top of the sixth on RBI singles from Quade and Michael Mateja.
 
Augustana had a chance to close out the game after scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth, but Sotiros quickly ended that, launching a game-tying solo homerun to left center, once again knotting the score 6-6.
 
Sotiros' longball sparked a four-run top of the ninth for North Central, as Chris Hill followed up with a double to left and came around to score on a single to left off the bat of Fong for the go-ahead run.  Carmody gave the Cardinals even more breathing room on a few pitches later, sending the second homerun of the inning over the right field fence, a two-run bomb to increase the lead 9-6.
 
Nick Rogalski allowed two hits in the ninth but shut the door to earn his third save of the season, while Anthony Serafini was credited with the win on the mound. 
 
The top six batters in the Cardinal lineup each recorded multiple hits in game one, as Quade and Fong each finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI, while Carmody and Sotiros both added a two hits and two RBI.  Hill finished 2-for-4 with a walk, run scored and RBI, while Mateja also finished with two hits and a RBI.
 
Game two was all North Central, as the Cardinal offense scored multiple runs in six of their last seven plate appearances.  After the Vikings pushed across a run in the bottom of the first, North Central responded with two runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.
 
In the top of the third, Quade drew a leadoff walk and came around to score shortly after as Mateja tripled to left center field.  Two batters later, Hill drove home Mateja with a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
 
Mateja increased the Cardinal advantage even further with a two-out, two-RBI double to left in the fourth, needing just a homerun to complete the cycle after his first-inning single.  Hill led off the fifth with a double and Fong plated him immediately after with yet another double to left, while Carmody followed with none other than a double to left, giving the Cardinals a 6-2 lead.
 
After a scoreless sixth, the Cardinals came back with a plethora of doubles once again in the top of the seventh.  Carmody led off the inning with a double to center, while Ryan Scott shot a two-bagger down the left field line to score Carmody.
 
Two batters later, Scott trotted home on a wild pitch, while Quade plated Austin Wheatley with a single to center after Wheatley reached on a base hit earlier in the inning.  After stealing second, Quade came around to score on a double off the bat of Sotiros, while Hill sent Sotiros home the following batter with the Cardinals fourth double of the inning, increasing the lead 11-3.
 
Augustana attempted a comeback with a pair of runs in each of the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, but North Central claimed those runs right back with a four-spot in the top of the eighth, highlighted by a three-run homerun to straight-away center field off the bat of Mateja to complete his cycle.
 
Carmody added his second homerun of the day in the top of the ninth just for good measure, a two-run tater to right center, finishing game two 4-for-6 with the homerun and three doubles, to go along with three RBI and three runs scored.
 
Mateja finished 4-for-5 while hitting for the cycle, adding six RBI and a pair of runs scored. 
 
Nick Anderson earned the victory on the mound, allowing four earned over his 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.
 
North Central looks to complete the season sweep of Augustana on Tuesday, Apr. 11 with first pitch at Zimmerman Stadium scheduled for 3 p.m.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.