The Carthage College baseball team (11-3, 3-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 21st in the March 29 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association /"D3baseball.com" poll, completed a three-game sweep of CCIW-opponent and No. 45 Elmhurst College (10-5, 0-3 CCIW) on Sunday, April 3 with a 15-4 win over the Bluejays at Butterfield Park in Elmhurst, Ill.  The Red Men opened the series by sweeping a Saturday, April 2 doubleheader, 10-2 and 16-11, at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis.

John Hasser hit a two-run home run in the first inning to put the Red Men up, 2-0.  A two-run homer by the Bluejays' Dan Matkovic in the bottom half tied the game, 2-2, and Tyler Wargo's RBI-single made it 3-2.  Carthage went back up, 4-3, in the second on an infield grounder by Billy Herrin and an RBI-double by Mike Petti.  The Red Men scored five runs in the third to go up by six, 9-3.  Will Hodges hit a two-run homer.  Kyle Pusateri hit a two-run double, and Joey Aiello singled home a run in the third.  Hodges hit a second home run in the fourth, and Kyle Pusateri singled in another, making it 11-3.  Elmhurst got a run back in the sixth to make it 11-4.  Mike Petti hit a grand slam in the eighth, the first career home run for the senior outfielder, to close out the scoring at 15-4.

Starting pitcher Eric Rohe (Jr. Mundelein, Ill., 3-0) went seven innings in game that was halted after eight due to a 10-run rule.  Rohe allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out seven.  Alex Newberry (So., Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) worked a scoreless eighth inning.  Ben Marquis (2-1) took the loss.  Marquis surrendered the first 11 runs.

Carthage collected 15 hits, nine of those for extra bases.  Mike Petti (Sr., Mundelein, Ill.) went three-for-five with a double, a home run and five RBI.  Will Hodges (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North) went three-for-four with two home runs and three RBI, and Kyle Pusateri (Jr., Schaumburg, Ill.) went three-for-four with a double and three RBI.

"We hit the ball very well this weekend," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV.  "We pitched well at times and not so well at others.  The defense on Sunday was a whole lot than it was on Saturday.  I was apologizing to people who had to watch Saturday's game.  Elmhurst swings the bats very well, but we got a good pitching performance from Eric Rohe on Sunday.  I guess 3-0 is good, but we have a long way to go.  The hitting is coming around, and we're starting to look more like a Carthage team, but we have to improve the defense.  I think we're getting used to the new bats, and the guys with some strength are starting to adjust.  We're a work in progress, that's for sure." 

Carthage travels to Lisle, Ill., on Tuesday, April 5 to play conference-opponent Wheaton College (Ill.) in a 1 p.m. game the Benedictine University (Ill.) Baseball Field.