NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Webster University baseball team was back in action this afternoon when they traveled to Naperville, Illinois, to take on the North Central (Ill.) College Cardinals for a regional matchup. The Gorloks defeated the Cardinals by a final score of 17-4 (8 inn.) to improve to 25-12 on the season. With the loss, the Cardinals drop to 23-11 on the year.
Webster got off to a great start in this one as they rallied for two runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. The Cardinals would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, but a two-run homerun from
Parker Wielt (7) in the top of the second extended the Gorloks lead to 4-1. The Cardinals would pick up a run in the bottom of the fourth, but three runs over the next two innings would give webster a 7-2 lead in the game. The Cardinals would score two final runs in the bottom of the sixth, but 10 runs from the Gorloks in the final two innings of the game would solidify the win for Webster.
Ben Kowalski (2-3) picked up the win for the Gorloks as he allowed nine hits and four earned runs while striking out four in 5.2 innings.
Alek Elges and
Caleb Zbrozek pitched in relief as the two combined to allow just one hit while striking out one in the final 2.1 innings of the game.
Webster rallied for 20 hits in the contest.
Malik Wirges led the way for Webster as he went 3-for-5 with five RBI.
Charlie Burton and
Ben Swords also had great games as Burton went 2-for-3 with four RBI while Swords went 4-for-5 with two RBI. In addition,
Evan Evola went 2-for-5 with a two-run homerun (10),
R.J. LaRocco went 3-for-5 with an RBI,
Parker Wielt went 1-for-4 with a three-run homerun (7), and
Matt Staker went 3-for-4 with four runs scored.
The Gorloks will return to the diamond on Thursday, May 4
th when they travel to Greenville, Illinois, to take on the Greenville (Ill.) University Panthers for the first game of a three game SLIAC series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
