JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — The North Central College baseball team scored seven unearned runs in the first inning and rode that to a 20-8 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Saturday at Lenz Field.
The Cardinals (1-0) scored all seven runs after two were out and then steadily pulled away after that. North Central led 8-2 heading to the bottom of third and then scored twice in the third and four times in the fourth.
Dan Rothbauer went three innings and took the loss for Lawrence (0-1). He allowed five hits and two earned runs.
Freshman Nolan Spencer had a big debut for the Vikings as he went 4-for-5 with a triple and three stolen bases. Matthew Holliday went 3-for-5 and fell a homer short of the cycle as he picked up a single, double and triple.
Travis Weber went 2-for-5 and Lawrence finished with 14 hits.