The Carthage College baseball team (12-2, 3-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) completed a three-game sweep of CCIW-opponent North Park University (10-9, 0-3 CCIW) by sweeping a Monday, March 30 doubleheader, 12-1- and 13-5, at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis. The Red Men opened the series on Saturday, March 28 with a 2-1 win over the Vikings at the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago.
In Monday's opener, North Park loaded the bases on three singles in the top of the third, but the Vikings were unable to push a run across. Carthage's Jared Knoespel hit a two-run homer in the bottom half. Drew Bailey and Reed Hero followed with RBI-doubles, and Graham Wick drove in a run to give the Red Men a 5-0 lead and chased Vikings starting pitcher Kenny Blanchard from the game. Taylor Meseberg greeted reliever Danny Forsythe with an RBI-double, and Anthony Fortunato followed with a two-run double, his second two-bagger of the inning, to put Carthage up, 8-0. Drew Bailey walked with the base loaded, and the Red Men led, 9-0. Hero's sacrifice fly upped the margin to 10-0, as Carthage sent 15 batters to the plate. The Red Men wound up with five doubles in the inning to tie a school record set against Blackburn College on May 22, 2004 in NCAA regional play in Bloomington, Ill. Carthage went on to win, 12-1, in seven innings
Jared Helmich (Jr., Lake Villa, Ill./Fox Lake-Grant Community, 2-0) limited North Park to one run on four hits and three walks over seven inning, while striking out nine batters. Kenny Blanchard (1-2), the first-of-five Vikings hurlers, took the loss. Anthony Fortunato (So., Palatine., Ill.) led the Red Men's 16-hit attack by going four-for-four with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBI.
North Park took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap on an unearned run, but Carthage tied the score, 1-1, in the bottom half on an RBI-single by Drew Bailey. The Vikings came up with three runs in the second to take a 4-1 lead. Dan Sabin's two-run single was the big hit in the inning. The Red Men took a 6-4 lead with a five-run fifth inning. After Nick Schmidlkofer scored on a balk, Carthage got RBI-singles from Reed Hero, Matt Rave, Taylor Meseberg and Anthony Fortunato. North Park got a run back in the sixth, but Carthage scored two in the bottom half to take an 8-5 lead. Jared Helmich singled in a run and Graham Wick doubled in another in the sixth. A two-run single by Drew Bailey in the seventh made it 10-5. A run-scoring single by Taylor Meseberg and a pair of unearned runs in the eighth made it 13-5.
Pitcher Brandon Hrdlicka (Jr., Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township, 3-0) worked the first five and two-thirds innings allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits and four walks. C.J. Casey (Fr., Hickory Hills, Ill./Palos Hills-Stagg) blanked North Park over the final three and one-third innings to earn his first save. Alex Vannucci (2-2) took the loss. Carthage's Drew Bailey (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill.) went three-for-five with three RBI.
"After playing that 2-1 game on Saturday, said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "it was nice to get 31 hits today against two good starters. It was our day, and we're starting to show that we have some personality and toughness. We're attacking the ball, and hopefully, we can keep that going. You try to win each series, but to go 3-0, it's huge to start the season. Jared Helmich threw the ball fantastic in the first game, and Brandon Hrdlicka battled. C.J. Casey, the freshman who closed out the second game, also did a nice job. We have no time to rest, with another conference doubleheader tomorrow."
Carthage travels to Carol Stream, Ill., on Tuesday, March 31 to play a 3 p.m. doubleheader with CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 7-12, 2-1 CCIW).