Buena Vista University ran a "small-ball" clinic, and Carthage College committed five infield errors on Wednesday, May 18, as the fifth-seeded Beavers (29-15) defeated the second-seeded and No. 20 Red Men (29-11), 8-1, in a first-round game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Central Region Championship at Illinois Wesleyan University's Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill.
It was not a day to be top-seeded team, as the No. 1 seed, Coe College (32-11 and ranked 26th nationally), lost to sixth-seeded Ripon College (21-18), 3-2, in Wednesday's first game. Fourth-seeded and No. 40 Illinois Wesleyan (27-16) completed the sweep of the top seeds in Wednesday's third game by edging third-seeded and No. 24 Thomas More College (28-8), 3-2. Carthage (29-11) will play Coe (32-11) in a Noon game on Thursday, followed by Ripon (21-18) versus Thomas More (28-8) at 3:30 p.m. and Buena Vista (29-15) taking on Illinois Wesleyan (27-16) at 7 p.m.
Buena Vista took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Dylan Colo led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, moved up to third on an grounder and scored on a double by Brock Yossi. Carthage tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Eickmeyer led off with a single, advanced to second on a bunt and scored from second when Chris D'Angelo bounced a single over the first baseman's head.
The Beavers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Michael Hoffman singled, advanced to second on a balk, moved up to third on a bunt and scored, with the infield pulled in, on a single by Ryan Scheetz just over the shortstops' head. The Red Men escaped further trouble when Scheetz broke for home on a steal attempt, but Andy Compton popped a bunt attempt into a double play. The Buena Vista seventh frame turned into an inning from hell, as the Beavers scored three times to take a 5-1 lead. After Colo led off with a bunt single, Brad Blum came up with a hit and run single to send Colo to third. Carthage botched a rundown play when Blum broke for second. Second baseman Tyler Eickmeyer threw the ball away, allowing Colo to score from third. Blum then stole second and scored on a single by Yossi. Yossi went to second on grounder, stole third and scored on a single by Kevin Kloewer.
The Beavers added two runs in the eighth to make it a 7-1 game. Joe Paletta opened the inning by reaching base on an infield error, Carthage's fifth miscue of the game. Pinch-runner Nick Maxwell stole second and third, the Beavers' fourth steal of third in the game, and scored on a single by Tyler Case. Case scored on a triple by Blum. Buena Vista scored again in the ninth to close out the scoring at 8-1.
Beavers pitcher Luke Probasco (8-3) went the distance and limited the Red Men to one run on eight hits and a walk. Mario Perez (Sr., Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township, 3-4) took the loss. Perez allowed five runs over seven innings on eight hits and a walk. Michael Sanchez (Sr., Oswego, Ill.) worked the final two frames and gave up three runs, just one earned, on four hits. Brock Yossi went two-for-five, one of five Beavers with two hits, and added two RBI. Buena Vista attempted six bunts and stole five bases in five attempts. Will Hodges (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North) led the Red Men with three singles in four trips to the plate.
"That's the worst we've played all year," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. "To do that at this time of the year just makes it worse. A loss is a loss, whether it's a walk off or game where you stink it up. I hope we can't play any worse than this. We're pretty disappointed after playing so well this past weekend at the conference tournament. The Buena Vista small-ball wasn't a surprise, and they really didn't start to play that game until they had us down. We didn't control the game, and next thing you know, they're running all over the place. It got away from us, but that's a little bit of our method of operation. We get into a bad situation, and we don't right the ship very well. We had a good game going through four or five innings—I didn't see this coming. Now, we're reeling, and we'll have to see how long we can hang around."
In Wednesday's first game, Ripon took an early, 3-0 lead over Coe, and Red Hawks starting pitcher Jason Wierschke (5-2) made that stand up with a complete-game, five-hit and two-run performance.