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SPRINGFIELD — Northwestern coach Brent Parke saw senior Tyler Stephenson struggle in batting practice. Parke watched him take extra swings off to the side as a teammate threw him soft tosses.

Parke marveled at Stephenson's dedication, but it didn't surprise him. The athlete who's having the best all-around season of any area baseball player isn't putting up those numbers by accident. Stephenson works hard, Parke said, and those results are paying off.

With Stephenson on the mound, the host Warriors beat Urbana 7-4 on Tuesday, May 6. Stephenson pitched a complete game, struck out 11, and, by going 2-for-3, he tied the school's single-season hits record with 44.

"He's got more hits than a lot of guys have at-bats," Parke said. "He just goes up with the approach that he's going to hit the baseball hard, and he doesn't care where it's going."

With victories over Urbana on Monday and Tuesday, the Warriors (18-7, 9-5 Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division) remain in contention for their first conference title. They trail Benjamin Logan (10-4) by one game with two to play.

"That's one of the things I was hoping when I got here," said Parke, whose team went 9-16 last season in his first year. "I said that's what we're going to work toward. I want to be right there every year."

Stephenson improved to 6-2 on the mound. He singled to lead off the second inning, and that started a rally that led to five runs. Luke Wildermuth drove in two of the runs with a double, and the Warriors had three bunt singles.

Urbana's trouble fielding those bunts played a part in its downfall.

"We should have been able to limit them to two runs that inning maybe instead of five," Urbana coach Kevin Bowdle said.

The Hillclimbers (14-9, 7-7 CBC) got back into the game in the sixth with four runs. Evan Petty drove in two with a home run to center field.

In the bottom of the sixth, Northwestern took advantage of two Urbana errors and two walks and scored twice on only one hit. Stephenson worked out of another jam in the seventh.

"Ty battles," Parke said. "He's not going to get rattled if he gives up a couple of runs."

Comment: Will the Warriors catch Ben Logan and win their first CBC league title?

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