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Evan Ranneklev hitting vs. Wartburg
Jeff Findley
7
Illinois Wesleyan IWU 16-18
8
Winner North Central NCC 28-6
Illinois Wesleyan IWU
16-18
7
Final
8
North Central NCC
28-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Illinois Wesleyan IWU 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 7 12 2
North Central NCC 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 3 X 8 13 2

W: Lamm (9-0) L: Kraft, Cooper (2-2) S: Schaefer (6)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Ninth-Inning Rally Not Enough at No. 10 NCC

Titans host the Cardinals for a doubleheader tomorrow, May 8

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team's ninth-inning rally came up short in an 8-7 defeat against 10th-ranked North Central College Friday afternoon, May 7, at Zimmerman Stadium. 

Illinois Wesleyan stumbled to 16-18 overall, 11-15 in conference play with the loss. North Central moved to 28-6 with the win, including a 22-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.

The Titans finished with 12 hits, led by 3-for-5 games from juniors Evan Ranneklev (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley) and Jared Mutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln Way East). Ranneklev scored twice and added a RBI, while Mutter finished with a run driven in. Freshman Jacob Cyrus (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, while Ethan Burgh (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Prospect) added a RBI in a 1-for-2 showing.

On the mound, senior Hunter Simon (Verona, Ill.-Seneca) threw five innings as the starter, with Cooper Kraft (Morton, Ill.-Morton), Brady Hough (Germantown Hills, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame), and Joe Prestamer (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln Way East) combining for the final few frames. 

Illinois Wesleyan took a 3-2 edge into the sixth, but North Central took control with three runs on four hits to flip the script, 5-3.

The Titans pushed one across in the eighth on Burgh's RBI single to pull within one, 5-4, but the Cardinals responded with three runs to take an 8-5 lead into the ninth.

Down to its final at bats, senior Dan Cerniglia (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) singled with one out. Junior Cole Greer (Springfield, Ill.-Pleasant Plains) followed with a RBI triple, and scored on Ranneklev's run-scoring single through the right side. After Mutter's single put runners on the corners, Cyrus' ground ball trimmed the NCC lead to one, 8-7, but the IWU rally ended there.

Illinois Wesleyan and North Central meet at Horenberger Field tomorrow for a conference doubleheader. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.

 
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