Cardinals Claim Victory Over Greensboro College

Submitted by North Central College 

Stringing together a five-run seventh inning for the second straight day, the baseball team closed out its Spring Break schedule with a 9-4 victory over Greensboro College at War Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, posting its third win in the five-game tour.

With the score tied at 4-4, the Cardinals (7-4) led off the seventh with singles by Steve Hlavac and Kevin Hennessy. Ben Krusen followed with a third straight single to drive Hlavac home, and Peter Romanellodrew a walk to load the bases and force a pitching change.

Once play resumed, Luke Waldier and Alex Khoury each drew free passes of their own to drive home two more runs. Romanello and Waldier later scored on separate wild pitches to account for the final margin.

North Central led early, loading the bases with no outs in the first inning and getting a sacrifice fly from Hennessy. The Cardinals added two more runs in the second, as Romanello scored on a fielder's choice and Frank Sutphin delivered an RBI single. The score was tied at 3-3 heading into the fifth, and Hlavac doubled before scoring on a single by Hennessy to give the Cardinals the lead once again. Greensboro (15-10) countered with a run of its own in the home half of the fifth, setting the stage for North Central's decisive rally.

Hlavac and Hennessy each went 2 for 4 at the plate, while Sutphin was 2 for 5 and Romanello drew three of North Central's seven walks. Jimmy Hermle pitched two innings of relief and got the win (1-0), while Matt Hussey closed out the game with three scoreless innings to earn his first save.

The Cardinals open the home portion of their 2012 schedule on Sunday, hosting Beloit College (4-6) in a double header at Zimmerman Stadium. Play is scheduled to begin at noon.