MOLINE, Ill. – North Central got a pair of outstanding efforts from it starting pitchers Saturday to defeat Augustana 6-2 and 13-2 in a doubleheader at Swanson Stadium/ Brunner Field. The Vikings fell to 8-2 on the season and 0-2 in the CCIW, while the sixth-ranked Cardinals improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the league.
The teams will complete a three-game set with a single game in Naperville, Illinois at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 21.
NORTH CENTRAL 6, AUGUSTANA 2
The guests broke a 2-2 tie in the opener with four runs in the top of the seventh.
North Central strung together three straight hits with two outs to get on the board in the second. Luke Gregorio touched Augustana starter
Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) for an RBI single that put the Cardinals up 1-0. Dom Listi's RBI triple to right made in the top of the fourth made it 2-0.
The Vikings tied with a pair in the bottom of the fourth.
Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) had a leadoff single and
Kyle Wise (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) followed with a walk. After
Matt Helms (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) moved both runners up with a sacrifice,
Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) knocked in Owens with a grounder to short and Wise scored on an error a batter later.
Hoban ran into trouble in the seventh. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Justin Rios drove in the go-ahead run with a fielder's choice grounder and Rob Marinec singled in a run, knocking Hoban out in favor of
Sam Cregan (Air Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.). A Joe Rizzo RBI single and a bases-loaded walk produced two more runs to make it 6-2 after 6½.
North Central starter Charlie Klemm (2-1) cruised through the final three innings to finish off a complete-game four-hitter. He walked one and fanned eight to improve to 2-1 on the year. Hoban suffered his first loss in three decisions.
Owens went 2-for-4 with a double. Listi and Colin Weilbacher each had three hits for the Cardinals.
NORTH CENTRAL 13, AUGUSTANA 2
While starter Jason Shanner was handcuffing Augustana in the nightcap, North Central's offense pounded out 16 hits and benefitted from six Viking errors and nine walks.
Freshman
Harrison Boushele (Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.) kept his club in the game, allowing just two runs through the first five innings. A pair of Augustana miscues led to his departure in the sixth, when the Cardinals added an unearned run.
While the guests exploded for 10 runs in their final three at-bats, Ozanic's two-run single in the eighth got the Vikings on the board.
Shanner (1-0) went seven innings, giving up just two hits, while walking four with nine strikeouts. Boushele (1-1), the first of seven Augustana pitchers, took the loss. He went 5 1/3 innings and surrendered three runs (two earned), walking two and fanning nine.
Rios had three hits for North Central.
