Baseball Falls To North Central, 10-4
BASEBALL FALLS TO NORTH CENTRAL, 10-4
PORT CHARLOTTE, FL., March 18, 2007 - Elms College junior third baseman Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN) belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI, but North Central College pounded out 15 hits en route to a 10-4 victory over the Blazers in Sunday's non-conference season opener for Elms College at the Port Charlotte Invitational.
With the loss, Elms College falls to 0-1 overall, while North Central improves to 2-4 overall.
North Central jumped to an early three-run lead in the second inning behind freshman centerfielder Justin Moriarty (Wood Dale, Ill) who smacked a two-run triple. The Cardinals then added another run in the fifth to stake a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the seventh Hawes connected for his first home run of the season bringing the Blazers to within one at 4-3.
The Cardinals pulled away in the bottom half of the seventh inning scoring three runs, and adding two more in the bottom half of the eighth.
The Blazers scored their final run in the eighth when junior catcher Joe Sawa (Chicopee, MA) scored on an error. Sawa finished the day 3 for 4.
North Central freshman pitcher Mike Kloss (Chicago, Ill) gave up three earned runs on three hits and struckout six in 6 innings of work in his first win for the Cardinals.
The Blazers return to action at the Port Charlotte Inivitational on Monday, March 19 to face Worcester State in a non-conference doubleheader, and a non-conference game against Eckerd. Game one is set for 9:30 a.m.