After a rough Monday twinbill against two nationally-ranked squads, the Carthage College baseball team (3-2) got back in the win column in a resounding way on Tuesday with a 14-0 pasting of North Central University (0-2). The game was played at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz. The Red Men lost both ends of a split doubleheader on Monday, losing to Wabash College (2-4), 11-6, before falling to Aurora University (3-0) by a 9-3 margin.
Carthage jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off North Central starting pitcher Justin Torres. Colton Klein led off the game with a double. Ryan Kramer singled, and Cody Phelps singled in Klein. Both runners moved up on a passed ball, and Vince Schwartz drove in Kramer with an infield grounder. One out later, Ben Levicki singled in Phelps.
In the Carthage third, Phelps led off with a single, went to third on a Schwartz double and scored Beckmann fielder's choice for a 4-0 lead. An RBI-double by Klein in the fourth made it a 5-0 game.
The Red Men proceeded to unload on the Rams with a five-run fifth frame and a four-run sixth to go up by two touchdowns, 14-0. In the fifth, Carthage scored on an RBI-double by Beckmann, an RBI-single by Myles Farley, an RBI-double by Jake Snider and a two-run triple by Klein. The Red Men's runs in the sixth came courtesy of an RBI-single by Schwartz and a three-run triple by Snider. Neither team scored in the seventh, and the contest was called due to a 10-run rule.
After giving up 38 hits and 20 walks in 35 innings since Saturday, Carthage got a much-needed, well-pitched game from Tremper freshman Dante Guarascio (1-0). Guarascio, in complete command of this one, scattered four singles and three walks over seven innings, while striking out seven batters. "Dante Guarascio threw the heck out of the ball," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. "The good thing was he didn't walk a lot of people. He just pumping strikes and pumping strikes. It was just a really well-pitched game. We're ecstatic to get a complete-game win out of a freshman. Where we've struggled so far is not throwing enough strikes, which is leading to really good hitting counts for the other teams. We have a lot of tired pitchers, so getting a complete game was really good and really fun to watch. He's going to be good one."
Torres (0-1), the losing pitcher, was charged with 13 runs, 12 earned, on 15 hits and three walks over five and one-third innings. Caiden Gelowicz relieved in the sixth and Grant Payne in the seventh.
Carthage pounded out 17 hits in the game. Snider led the Red Men by going four-for-four with a double, a triple and four RBI. "Jake Snider is really athlete, and he's going to be a really good ball player," said Schmidt. "We've held him back a little to try and get his feet wet, but what a day he had today. He can really run, and he's going to be a special player for us." Klein went three-for-three with two doubles and three RBI. Phelps had three hits in four trips with a triple and an RBI, and Beckmann drove in three runs.
The Red Men's three triples tied a game record first set against North Central College on April 14, 2001 and matched versus both Webster University May 18, 2006 and North Park University on April 10, 2018. Triples by Phelps and Snider in the sixth inning also tied a game record set by Ryan Polcyn and Johnny Meier against North Park on April 6, 2004.
Carthage gets a day off on Wednesday and returns to action on at the Tucson Invitational Thursday against Gustavus Adolphus College in a 9 a.m. MST contest.