by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. - Illinois Tech baseball held their delayed home opener Tuesday afternoon at Ed Glancy Field, but visiting North Central College were less than gracious guests, as the Cardinals dropped the Scarlet Hawks 21-0 in a 7-inning shortened non-conference matchup. With the loss, the Scarlet Hawks fell to 5-6 overall, while the top-twenty Division III ranked Cardinals improved to 11-3.

The Scarlet Hawks were scheduled to host North Central in a double-header on Saturday, March 18th, but due to the weather conditions the games were split up with a road game against North Central this past Sunday, and the Hawks' home opener yesterday.

After a good start to the season, the Scarlet Hawk offense has dried up over the last three games. After averaging just over nine runs per game over their first eight games of the season, the Hawks have averaged just 1.67 runs per game, with just 16 hits over the last three games, including being one-hit in yesterday's game.

It was a rough day for the pitching staff as well, giving up 21 runs and 19 hits, including six home runs and four doubles. The lone bright spots were Ethan Jenssen and Ethan Henry. Jenssen pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out five batters. Henry recorded the final out in the top of the Cardinals 11-run seventh inning, striking out Danny Nuccio after giving up a two-out single.

There was a record broken in Tuesday's game, as North Central's Rob Marinec stroked a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning, giving him a program-high 248 hits for his Cardinal's career, breaking the previous record of 247 set by Jeremy Quade('19).

Next Up

The Scarlet Haws will look to rebound this weekend, when they travel to Gambier, Ohio for double-headers on Saturday and Sunday against the Owls, with both opening games starting at 11:00 AM CT.