Mar. 27, 2021 – With a break in the conference schedule, the seventh-ranked North Central College baseball team scored a 5-1 victory over DePauw University on Saturday at Zimmerman Stadium.

The Cardinals (9-2) wasted no time in opening the scoring, as Luke Lehnen led off the bottom of the first with a base-hit, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Following a flyout and a Rob Marinec walk, Dom Listi plated Lehnen with RBI-single to left and advanced a base on a Tiger throwing error on the play.

With runners on second and third with one away, Jared Wojcik made DePauw pay for the error, lofting a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Marinec while giving North Central a 2-0 lead.

Jason Shanner held the Tigers in check over the first three innings, before DePauw cut the score 2-1 with a solo homerun in the top of the fourth.

North Central claimed that run back in the bottom of the sixth, as Brent Swenson came through with a two-out single through the left side to score Listi who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.

Still holding a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Michael Stoltz layed down a bunt single to lead off the inning and stole second two batters later.  With two outs, Stoltz at second and first base open, the Tigers decided to pitch to Marinec and the senior catcher made them pay, lining a two-run rocket of a homerun on a line drive that just cleared the left field fence, adding a pair of insurance runs.

Ryan Behling tossed the final three innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three to earn his first save of the season.

Shanner improves to 2-0 on the season with the win, allowing just the one earned run over his six innings of work, striking out eight and walking none.

Eight of the nine Cardinals in the lineup recorded a hit, led by a 2-for-4 showing from Swenson, while Marinec finished 1-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored.  Listi was 1-for-2 from the plate with two hit by pitches, a run scored and RBI, while Wojcik also added a 1-for-2 performance with a hit by pitch and sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow with a top-10 matchup with 2^nd-ranked Washington University in St. Louis, with first pitch at the Corn Crib in Normal, Illinois scheduled for 3 p.m.