Schaumburg, IL – The Stars hosted the Vikings of North Park University in another double-header match-up at Wintrust Field on Saturday afternoon. Although they battled hard, the Stars would drop both contests, as the Vikings would complete the sweep of the series taking the first game 5-3 before edging out a 12-11 victory for the second game.
Game One Recap
The Vikings would draw first blood early, as a three-run first inning would give them an early advantage.The Stars would answer back with Ryan Simak scoring the first run for the Stars in the bottom of the frame..
After the Vikings added to their lead via an RBI double in the fifth, the Stars answered again as Simak scored his second run of the game off of an RBI single by Brandon Diedrich in the sixth. Matt Galdi would bring in Keegan Brandt in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Jeremy Davidson completed his season debut, striking out five through six innings, allowing only four hits.
This would prove to not be enough as the Vikings tacked on one final run in the ninth inning to take game one 5-3.
Game Two Recap
The second game of the series would prove to go down to the wire as it featured three ties and three lead changes.
The Stars got on the board first, taking an early 2-0 lead as Garrett Wano scored Brandon Diedrich via an RBIi triple before being brought home by a sac fly off the bat of Keegan Brandt.The Vikings tied it up in the third before the Stars took the lead yet again in the bottom of the inning with Johnny Condran's sac fly to put the Stars ahead 4-2.
North Park quickly answered as they went on to put up a six-run fourth inning to continue its hot hitting.
Johnny Condron would yet again bring the Stars back to life after a three-run RBI single to center field in the bottom of the fourth cut the Stars deficit at one, 8-7.
In the fifth, the Vikings tacked on another run to make their lead 9-7. The Stars answered back in the sixth off of Condron's RBI single before taking the lead with Wano's RBI single to give themselves a 10-9 lead.
The Vikings scored off a Dominican error to even the score at 10-10 in the top of the eighth but that would prove to be short-lived, as Brandon Diedrich's sac fly gave the Stars a one-run lead heading into the ninth inning 11-10.North Park responded again by scoring the go-aheadRBI double to take game two 12-11.
"I was really pleased with the way we came out and battled today", said Stars Head Coach Steve Hardman. "It felt like I was watching a completely different team. Although we dropped all four this weekend, we learned a lot about our team and what we need to iron out before conference play."
The Stars will be back in action next Saturday, as they will take on the Raiders of MSOE in a double-header opening NACC matchup at Wintrust Field. The first pitch is set for noon.
