ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst baseball team closed the books on the 2016 season by splitting a doubleheader with North Park University. Elmhurst rallied to take game one 13-8 before dropping the night cap 11-5.
Elmhurst finished the season with a 21-19 overall record and a 9-12 mark in the CCIW.
ELMHURST 13, NORTH PARK 8 (Game One) – Elmhurst rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the eight to down North Park 13-8 in game one.
North Park grabbed a 4-0 with a run in the first, two in the third and another in the top of the fifth. Elmhurst rallied back in the bottom of the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs to take a 5-4 lead.
Chris Eberhart started the scoring with an RBI double.
Brandon Kressner added a run-scoring double to make the score 4-2. A groundout from
Ben Havel drove in a run to pull Elmhurst to within three and
A.J. Compton's RBI double tied the game. A fielding error on North Park allowed
Austin MacMillan to score and put the Bluejays in front 5-4.
North Park quickly answered back, scoring three times in the top of the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. Elmhurst broke things open in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and the bases empty, eight straight Bluejays reached base resulting in six straight runs for Elmhurst. A pair of walks and a hit batter loaded the bases.
Reagan McReynolds singled to center to cut the deficit down to one. A bases loaded walk to Kressner tied the score at 7-7. Havel put the Bluejays in front for good with a two-run double to left field. MacMillan and Compton added RBI singles and Eberhart drew a bases loaded walk to force home another run. A North Park error accounted for the Bluejays final run of the game.
McReynolds led the Bluejays at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one driven in. MacMillan, Havel and Compton collected two hits apiece. Havel drove in three runs while MacMilland and Compton knocked in two runs each.
Havel made the start from the mound and took a no-decision, working 5.2 innings and allowing 11 hits and seven runs. He walked four and fanned four.
Ben Modesitt picked up the win in relief (1-2), working the final 3.1 innings and allowing just three hits and one run. He walked two and struck out two.
NORTH PARK 11, ELMHURST 5 (Game Two) – North Park outscored Elmhurst 7-0 over the final four innings to pull away for a 9-2 victory.
North Park (15-25, 6-15 CCIW) scored two runs in the first to take a quick lead, but the Bluejays answered back with a pair of runs in the fourth. A double from Eberhart drove in Compton and cut the Vikings' lead in half.
Matt Wilson scored on a wild pitch to even the score at 2-2.
Elmhurst ran into trouble in the sixth. North Park sent 10 batters to the plate and banged out five hits, scoring five runs to take a 7-2 lead. Alec Strachota delivered a key two-run single in the inning to spark the Vikings' five-run inning. The Vikings tacked on a run in the seventh and eighth and two in the ninth to open up a nine-run cushion.
Elmhurst scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score 11-5.
Kressner paced Elmhurst at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI. Eberhart added a pair of hits in the loss for the Bluejays.
Ryan Millan suffered the loss for the Bluejays. He worked 5.2 innings and allowed 12 hits and seven runs (five earned). He walked two and struck out two.
