JOLIET, Ill. --- Limited to just three hits on the day, the University of St. Francis baseball team suffered its second shutout of the season on Thursday when it dropped a 6-0 non-conference matchup to North Park University at Duly Health and Care Field.

USF's hits came in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings off the bats of Nate Maliska, Jake Vera and John McGuire (double).

North Park (5-12) had the bases loaded in the first inning, but Saint starter Jacob Jurka got out of that jam before tossing another scoreless inning in the second frame.  Cody Nold followed with three more shutout innings before the Vikings produced their first of two three-run innings in the sixth.

The other three runs came in the eighth inning.

The Saints (7-18) had a total of seven baserunners on the day (three hits, four walks), but could only get one runner beyond second base and he was eventually wiped out on a double-steal attempt in the fourth inning.

Notes: Maliska extended his streak of reaching base to 12 games in a row, while Eric Maffie has his streak up to 11 contests … Luke Ketchum had his season-high eight-game hitting streak snapped on Thursday … The Saints return to Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday when they face Calumet College of St. Joseph in a  noon doubleheader at Duly Health and Care Field.

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