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Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

LOVES PARK, Ill. (Apr. 16, 2015) – Despite being outhit, the North Central College baseball team hung on to defeat Rockford College, 7-6 on Thursday evening at Aviator Stadium.
 
North Central (17-11) took an early 5-0 lead, plating three runs in the top of the first and two more in the top of the third.  Sam Carius and Nick Brandt walked to lead off the first, starting the Cardinal rally, while Joe Paparone got the scoring started by reaching on an error and scoring Carius to give North Central a 1-0 lead.
 
Two batters later, Vito DeRango lined a two-out double into the left center field gap, scoring Brandt and Paparone, increasing the lead 3-0.
 
In the top of the third, Brandt led off with a single to center andSam Klein increased his hitting streak to 13 games with a double to left field.  With runners on second and third, Paparone lofted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Brandt.
 
After a Chris Hill walk, the Cardinals executed a double steal as Klein swiped home and Hill stole second, increasing the Cardinal lead 5-0.
 
Rockford (13-14) rallied for a run in the bottom of the third, but North Central came right back with two runs in the top of the fourth, as Carius lined a RBI goundout to shortstop and Brandt plated a run on a single up the middle later in the inning, giving North Central a 7-1 advantage.
 
Despite the six-run lead, the Cardinals were able to hang on in the ninth as Rockford rallied for four runs in the ninth after plating a run in the bottom of the sixth to draw within one, butJake Staab came in to record the final out and secure his second save of the season.
 
Starter Andrew Houser improves to 2-0 this season, allowing two earned runs over six innings pitched, striking out one while walking four.
 
Brandt paced the Cardinals offense, finishing 3-for-4 from the plate with a walk, RBI and two runs scored.  Sing Fong finished 1-for-2 from the dish with a walk, hit by pitch and run scored.
 
North Central continues College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Saturday, Apr. 18, traveling to Elmhurst College with game one of the twin bill slated for 1 p.m.