BOX SCORE

LISLE, Ill. – The Benedictine University baseball team pulled off a 10-inning win on Wednesday night over the Cardinals of North Central College with a Uli Ortiz single to left to lead his team to a 4-3 victory.

 

The two teams battled through four scoreless innings behind strong pitching and nearly flawless defense. North Central used five pitchers in the first five innings, compared to BenU's one, Robert Grabek. Grabek led the way with four strike-outs, tied with teammate Shay Wagner.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the BenU bats came alive. Mike Loni started the Eagles out by singling to right. After first baseman Dan Zust popped up to the short stop, Ortiz stepped up and tallied his second of four hits on the night, the highest in the game. Loni would score on a Jeff Ferstein walk and center fielder Josh Zenawick would tally the second RBI with a single to right. The Eagles scored two runs on three hits in the inning.

 

In the top of the eighth, however, North Central would fight back and score twice to even the score on an RBI from right fielder Abraham and a wild pitch. With the score tied at two, the Eagles were able to muster up some more offense in the bottom of the inning when second baseman Chris Wanderling would bring in Zenawick with a single to right.

 

Heading into the ninth the Eagles were up by one. The Cardinal's third baseman Daniels would double to left field and bring in Ross. The Eagles pulled it together and refused to fall behind, ending the top of the inning and allowing North Central to score only once on three hits.

 

The Eagles took care of business in the top of the tenth as Wagner struck out three players and allowed only one hit. With two outs in the bottom of the tenth, the Eagles looked ready to play yet another inning. However, Ortiz stepped up to the plate and ripped a ball through the left side, tallying his fourth and final RBI and scoring right fielder Jack Holden.

 

Benedictine brought in four runs on eleven hits on the night. The Cardinals would play ten pitchers in the ten innings, who gathered eight strike-outs between them. It would take BenU only four pitchers to tally ten.

 

The Eagles are back in action on May 7^th at Rockford College for a double-header beginning at noon. This will be their last regular season game.