The Carthage College baseball team (17-19, 7-14) won the rubber game of a three-series with College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin-opponent Carroll University (14-21, 6-13), 7-2, on Sunday, April 28 at Frame Park in Waukesha, Wis. On Friday, Carthage split a home doubleheader with the Pioneers, winning the opening game, 5-2, before dropping the nightcap, 7-6.
In Sunday's finale, Vince Schwartz, the CCIW leader in runs batted in, connected on a two-run homer in the first inning, staking the Red Men to an early, 2-0 lead. The Red Men scored four times in the second inning. Jake Snider drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Myles Farley followed with a two-run single and advanced to third on a double by Schwartz. Farley scored on a single to third by Clayton Taylor, and Carthage led, 6-0.
Carroll scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-2, but Kyle Engstrom's solo home run in the sixth made it a 7-2 contest to close out the scoring.
Carthage pitcher Jacob Delabio started and gave up two runs on just two hits, four walks and four strikeouts over four innings. Chance Roach (3-2) took over in the fifth and blanked the Pioneers on a hit, two walks and four strikeouts over the final five frames to collect the win. Cameron Godinsky (5-4) took the loss for the Pioneers and surrendered seven runs, five earned, on 12 hits over six innings.
Carthage out-hit Carroll, 15-3, Vince Schwartz led the way by going three-for-five with a double, a home run and two RBI. Kyle Engstrom went three-for-four with a solo home run, and Myles Farley had two hits in four trips with two RBI.
Despite Sunday's win, Carthage cannot qualify for this year's CCIW Baseball Tournament. Even with a sweep of next weekend's three-game series at Illinois Wesleyan University, the Red Men would wind up the regular season with a 10-14 conference record. The Titans, currently in fifth place, swept a Sunday doubleheader from Elmhurst College, 7-6 and 15-12, the second game going 11 innings, and won their 11th league game, one more than Carthage could reach with a sweep. Sixth-place North Park University currently has 10 wins with five games to play, but the Vikings have a tie-breaker with the Red Men based on winning the three-game series.
Carthage closes out its 2019 home schedule on Tuesday night, April 30 by playing host to non-conference opponent Benedictine University (Ill.) in a 6 p.m. twilight game at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.