PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.—Senior Luke Lamm (Bolingbrook, Ill.) struck out seven and allowed just one run over seven innings to help 18th-ranked North Central (Ill.) College defeat Babson College, 7-1, in non-conference baseball action on Tuesday afternoon.

Babson, which has dropped two straight games, slips to 2-6 overall while North Central improves to 8-2 on the year.

Junior Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) and first-year Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) both had two hits for the Beavers. Fellow rookie Connor Doan (Pasadena, Texas) gave up four earned runs and struck out two over 6.0 innings in his first career start.

Senior Dom Listi (Crystal Lake, Ill.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, classmate Rob Marinec (Alsip, Ill.) was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI and fellow senior Justin Rios (Lemont, Ill.) singled twice and knocked in a pair of runs for the Cardinals. First-year Gavin Gawronski (Wauwatosa, Wis.) fanned two over the final two innings to pick up his first save of the year.

Senior Cole Gregorio (Naperville, Ill.) singled and scored to give North Central a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second and Marinec plated two more runs to extend the margin to 3-0 with a two-out single to left. Hvozdovic legged out an infield single to start the top of the fourth and came home on Kiely's two-out knock to right to make it 3-1, but Listi worked a two-out walk and came home on an RBI single by Rios in the bottom of the frame to push the Cardinals' lead back to 4-1.

Doan wriggled out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam with a ground out and an line drive double play in the fifth and the Beavers had their best chance to cut into their deficit when Gawronski came on in relief of Lamm to start the eighth. Junior Brant Savage (Charlton, Mass.) and Hvozdovic led off with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners but Gawronski kept the three-run margin intact thanks to an inning-ending double play.

North Central tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, all with two outs. Listi made it 5-1 with an RBI single and Marinec triple to right to drive in another run before coming home on a single by Rios for the final margin.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson takes on Stevens at 11 a.m. while the Cardinals meet Wooster at 3 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 1-2 all-time against North Central with both losses coming this spring.
• Senior Michael Cook (Whitman, Mass.) extended his hitting streak to eight games with fourth-inning single, while junior Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) has reached base safely in all eight games this season after walking in the third inning on Tuesday.
• Hvozdovic has recorded three straight multi-hit games and is 7-for-14 (.500) at the dish during this stretch.
• Kiely has recorded two hits and an RBI in back-to-back games.