CARBONDALE, Ill. (Feb. 22, 2020) – Keeping the opposing lineup off balance all afternoon long, Charlie Klemm dazzled for six no-hit innings while the offense piled on 20 hits to lead the North Central College baseball team to a 16-1 onslaught of Wilmington College on Saturday inside Itchy Jones Stadium.

It was a pitcher's duel early, as Klemm and Wilmington starter Lance Fleischman posted zeroes over the first four innings.

The Cardinal offense eventually came alive in the top of the fifth, scoring nine runs after sending 12 batters to the plate in the inning to bust the game wide open.  Rob Marinec scored the first run of the game on a Quaker error, before Jared Wojcik cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to right center. 

Later in the inning, Colin Weilbacher drove home a pair, followed by a RBI-triple off the bat of Justin Rios while Marinec capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Wilmington (0-2) offense on the other hand had no answer for Klemm, as the junior was pulled after six innings of work with a no-hitter intact, allowing just a pair of walks and a hit by pitch, while striking out seven.

The offense piled on four runs in the top of the sixth and three more in the seventh to put the game out of reach, highlighted by Wojcik's first career homerun, a three-run blast over the left field fence in the sixth.

Just three outs from completing the combined seven-inning no-hitter, Caleb Scott ended that bid on the third pitch of the bottom of the seventh from Ryan Behling, hitting a solo homerun to left, canceling the shutout bid in the process.

All nine starters in the Cardinal lineup recorded a hit on the afternoon, led by 4-for-5 performances from Eric Outlaw and Wojcik, as Outlaw scored three times and Wojcik drove in six runs and also scored three times.  Rios finished 4-for-6 on the afternoon, while Weilbacher added a pair of hits and three RBI.

North Central (2-0) will take on the University of Wisconsin-Stout on Sunday, Feb. 23 in Joliet, Illinois, with first pitch from DuPage Medical Group Field scheduled for 1 p.m.