The Carthage College baseball team (5-7, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) closed out its spring trip to the Tucson Invitational on Tuesday, March 26 with an 10-5 loss to St. John's University (Minn., 6-5) at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
St. John's took a 3-0 lead in the first inning off starting pitcher Andrew Arenson. Dylan Graves tripled in two runs and subsequently scored on a balk. Carthage got a run back in the second on an RBI-single by Nick Schmidlkofer, but the Red Men left the bases loaded. The Johnnies took a 6-1 lead in the third on a three-run double by Aaron Pfaff and tacked on two more in the fifth for an 8-1 bulge.
The Red Men, who had left the bases loaded again in the fourth, finally cashed in a bases-loaded situation in the fifth when Schmidlkofer forced in a run with a walk, and Tanner Wensman singled in a run. Unfortunately, Brian Huntsinger grounded out to leave the bases full for the third time in five innings. Schmidlkofer hit a two-run double in the seventh to cut the lead to 8-5, but Joe Long hit a two-run double in the ninth to put the Johnnies back up by five, 10-5.
Andrew Arenson (Jr., Naperville, Ill./North, 0-1) went the first four and two-thirds innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits, seven walks and three hit batters. Weston Peterson followed in the fifth, Eddie Gengo Jr., in the ninth and Jake Jewell, also in the ninth. Collin Felhaber (1-1), who entered the game with one out in the fifth, picked up the win. Carthage's Nick Schmidlkofer (So., Wind Lake, Wis./Muskego) went three-for-three with a double and four RBI.
"We gave them 16 free base runners today, and unfortunately, that's been our method of operation so far this year," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. "We chased them the whole game, even though I thought we out-swung them. They got hits when it mattered, and we gave them 16 free base runners. It's a recipe for disaster. We had our chances, and it could have been a different kind of game. I feel better about our team on the field after 12 games, but I'm very worried about our pitching. You can't defend a walk or a hit batter. I think we can play with anybody, but we don't do all the phases of the game well at the same time. When we've had decent pitching, we've won. It's unusual for us to come back from this trip under .500, but we need to get better at playing the game. The wins and losses will take care of themselves. If we can play better, maybe we can make a run at something this year. This 5-7 record has everyone's attention, and you learn from a trip like this by paying attention to details."
Carthage is scheduled to open Augie Schmidt Field on Friday, March 29 with a Noon doubleheader versus CCIW-opponent North Central College, but that entire three-game series will probably be shifted to Zimmerman Stadium/Alumni Field in Naperville, Ill. As of Tuesday, the Carthage facility still has snow cover in the outfield.