North Central (Ill.) 4, Kalamazoo (Mich.) 2

La Crosse, Wis. - North Central College (Ill.) avoided elimination Thursday at the NCAA Division III Baseball Midwest Regional at Copeland Park with a 4-1 victory over Kalamazoo College (Mich.).  North Central, ranked 13th on D3baseball.com, improves to 31-11 on the season and will play Friday, May 20 at 10 a.m. against the loser of the UW-La Crosse/Saint John's University (Minn.) game scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Thursday.  Kalamazoo (Mich.) ends its season at 24-20-1.
 
North Central (Ill.) got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the top of the first.  Jeremy Quade singled to start the game, followed by a one-out single from Bobby Smith.  Chris Hill then hit a three-run home run to left field to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
 
Kalamazoo (Mich.) got on the board in the bottom of the second.  Back-to-back doubles from Brett Garwood and Josh Reuter cut the lead to 3-1. 
 
In the top of the sixth, North Central (Ill.) added a run as Michael Mateja scored on a Dan Sotiros sacrifice fly to left to make it 4-1.  Mateja had singled to open the inning. 
 
Kalamazoo (Mich.) started a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth.  Connor Grant walked and Chase Shelbourne came in to run.  After a pitching change, Garwood singled and advanced to second on an error by the right fielder, allowing Shelbourne to score on the play to make it 4-2.  Nick Rogalski came in for North Central (Ill.) to face pinch-hitter Andre Gard, who grounded out to shortstop to end the game. 
 
Russell Hoh (4-1) picked up the win for North Central (Ill.), giving up one run on five hits over 8.2 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.  Rogalski picked up his fourth save of the year, getting the final out. Hill led the Cougars with a home run and three RBI while Fong went 3-for-5 and Quade added two hits and one run.   
 
Ryan Orr (8-4) took the loss for Kalamazoo (Mich.), giving up four runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings.  He struck out eight and walked two.  Garwood went 3-for-4 with a double and one run while Reuter had a RBI and a double for the Hornets.