LISLE, Ill. (Apr. 12, 2018) – Just days after becoming the all-time winningest coach in North Central College baseball history, head coach Ed Mathey eclipsed another milestone in his illustrious career on Thursday, earning his 600^th career win in the Cardinals' 9-7 defeat of Benedictine University.
 
In the midst of his 25^th year as a collegiate head coach, Mathey has totaled 306 wins in his 13 years at North Central, earning Central Region Coach of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons.
 
North Central has now won 10 of the last 11 games, while recording double digit hits in each of the last 15.
 
The Cardinals (13-7) struck first for a run in the top of the first inning, as Michael Mateja pulled a two-out double down the left field line and Mike Wisz followed with a RBI-single through the left side to give North Central the early lead.
 
Benedictine (12-5) took that run right back in the bottom of the first, while striking for two more in the second on four singles in the inning.
 
In the top of the third, Jeremy Quade was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, while Eric Outlaw quickly made the Eagles pay, lining a triple the other way to score Quade.  Mateja promptly tied the score with his second hit in as many at-bats, singling through the left side and knotting the score 3-3.
 
The Eagles once again plated a pair of run in the bottom of the third on three more hits, but the Cardinals countered with a four-spot in the top of the fourth.  Robert Zebrauskas drew a leadoff walk, followed by a single off the bat of Quade and another walk issued to Outlaw, loading the bases for Mateja with nobody out.
 
With the Cardinals' most dangerous hitter at the plate and nowhere to put him, the Eagles were forced to pitch to Mateja and he made them pay, lining a RBI-single to center to open the game 3-for-3.
 
Two batters later, John Carmody was hit by a pitch, driving in Quade, before Rob Marinec drew the third walk of the inning, scoring Outlaw in the process.  Foster Heise then got in on the action, singling home Mateja to give the Cardinals a 7-5 lead.
 
Continuing to stay hot on offense, Outlaw doubled down the left field line with one out in the fifth, before the Eagles chose to intentionally walk Mateja.  Not taking kindly to the intentional pass, Wisz took matters into his own hands and cleared the bases with a double to right field, increasing the North Central lead 9-5.
 
That proved to be all the scoring the offense would muster however, hitting a stalemate after the fifth inning.
 
Thankfully for the offense, Austin Polezoes held the Eagles to just three hits over his four innings in his first outing of the season, entering in the third inning in relief of Cardinal starter Russell Hoh.
 
After Polezoes exited the contest the Eagles scratched across two more runs in the bottom of the eighth and had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Nick Rogalski shut the door to earn his third save of the season while becoming the program's all-time saves leader with 14, a record that stood for 19 seasons.
 
10 of the 13 Cardinal hits came from the top four spots in the lineup, as Mateja led all players going 4-for-5 from the plate with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI, also increasing his reached-base streak to 63 games while increasing his average to .487 on the season.
 
Outlaw finished 2-for-5 with a walk and three runs scored, while Quade also added a pair of hits and runs scored.  Wisz drove in three while going 2-for-5 from the dish with a walk.
 
The Cardinals continue a stretch of four-straight non-conference games this weekend, heading to Knox College on Saturday, Apr. 14 with game one of the doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. at Blodgett Field.