The Carthage College baseball team (32-12) lost to Buena Vista University (32-16), 7-6, on Saturday, May 21 in the title game of the NCAA Division III Central Region Championship at Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. Carthage defeated Buena Vista, 12-7, in Saturday's first game, forcing a final game for the regional title.
Carthage took a 5-0 win in the opening inning of the title game. A Buena Vista infield error triggered the rally. Joey Aiello drove in the first run with an infield grounder. Will Hodges doubled in a run. Josh Albers walked with the bases loaded, and Kyle Pusateri singled in two runs. The Beavers scored single runs in the both the first and third innings off starting pitcher Sam Wilhelms (Fr., Fond du Lac, Wis.). Buena Vista added another run in the fourth off reliever Brett McQuade (Sr., St. Charles, Ill./East) to narrow the gap to 5-3. The Beavers put two runners on with two outs in the sixth when Carthage changed pitchers, bringing in Mitch Lochen, who got Brock Yossi on a fly out to end the inning.
Carthage scored a run in the seventh on a Joey Aiello sacrifice fly to make it 6-3. Ryan Scheetz singled in a run in the seventh to shave the Carthage lead to 6-4. With two outs and runners on second and third, Dylan Colo blooped a singled to right-center to score both runners for a 6-6 tie. Colo took second on the play and advanced to third on a passed ball. Lochen struck out Tyler Case, but Carthage catcher Matt Soderlund bobbled the ball, dropped his glove and failed to throw down to first to complete the strikeout. Meanwhile, Colo snuck across the plate with the go-ahead run, as the Beavers took a 7-6 lead. The Red Men put two runners on base with two outs in the ninth, but Joey Aiello bounced to first base the end the game. Luke Probaso (9-3) was the winning pitcher, with James Stone picking up his eighth save. The loss went to Mitch Lochen (2-2).
In Saturday's first game, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as Billy Herrin led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a bunt and scored on an infield single by Will Hodges. Buena Vista tied the game with a run in the bottom half. With two outs, Michael Hoffman singled, went to third on a single by Kevin Kloewer and scored on a single by Ryan Scheetz. The Red Men went up, 2-1, in the second when Chris D'Angelo reached base on a fielding error by Beavers shortstop Brad Blum, went to third on a single by Josh Albers and scored on an infield grounder by Kyle Pusateri. Carthage made it 3-1 in the third on a sacrifice fly by John Hasser. Buena Vista went ahead, 4-3, in the bottom of third on a three-run home by Kloewer off starting pitcher Nic Jensen (Sr., Appleton, Wis./East). The Red Men tied things up, 4-4, in the fourth on an RBI-single by Billy Herrin.
Carthage went up by two runs, 6-4, in the fifth. Will Hodges and Hasser walked, with the second free pass sending Beavers starting pitcher Jon Ringblom out of the game. Both runners advanced on a bunt, and Hodges scored on a grounder ball by Brian Huntsinger. Albers followed with a single to score Hasser. The Red Men scored again in the sixth to take a 7-4 edge. With two outs, Joey Aiello singled, went to second on a single by Hodges and scored on a single by Eric Barber. Buena Vista scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, 7-7. Andy Compton reached on an error by first baseman Aiello. Luke Watson replaced Jensen on the hill, and Watson hit Dylan Colo, his second batter, with a pitch With two outs, Brock Yossi singled in Compton, and Hoffman followed with a two-run single to the left side to score two runs to tie the game.
Carthage re-gained the lead, 12-7, in the eighth, as the Beavers self-destructed with three errors. With the bases loaded against relief pitcher Kyle Dupic, Hodges drove in a run with an infield grounder. Mike Pugliese scored on an infield error, and two runs scored when Buena Vista centerfielder Tyler Case dropped a deep fly ball. Matt Soderlund scored the inning's fifth on an error by second baseman Dylan Colo. Luke Watson (Fr., Appleton, Wis./Xavier, 3-0) was the winning pitcher. Tyler Lefeber (3-1), the third-of-six Beaver pitchers, took the loss. Carthage's Will Hodges (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North) went three-for-four with a double and two RBI, while Josh Albers (Sr., Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville) went three-for-five with an RBI. The Beavers, who entered the championship round without an error in four games, committed six miscues.
Pitcher Danny Dahm (Sr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West), third baseman Josh Albers (Sr., Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville), catcher Matt Soderlund (Sr., Racine, Wis./Washington Park) and centerfielder Will Hodges (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North) were named to the all-tournament team, with Buena Vista pitcher Luke Probasco earning tournament MVP honors.
"We played our tails off today," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "but I guess we weren't quite good enough. The effort we gave coming out of the loser's bracket was almost enough to get this done. I am so proud of these kids. Baseball is famous for bizarre plays like the one we lost on. You don't want to see it happen to anyone. It happens. It's baseball. It hurts, because we made a hell of a run, and we thought we had this thing won. That play is unfortunate, but we wouldn't have been in this tournament without Matt Soderlund—that's for sure. We battled all the way to the end. This group kept it going for Carthage baseball. It was Carthage baseball all the way to the end. We may have had more heart than talent on this team, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing."