The Carthage College baseball team (20-7, 9-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) opened a three-game series with CCIW-opponent Millikin University (14-15, 5-9 CCIW) on Saturday, April 18 by splitting a doubleheader at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.  The Big Blue won the first game, 4-3, with the Red Men taking the nightcap by a 10-0 margin.  The two teams conclude the series with a 10 a.m. single game on Sunday, April 19.  Sunday's game, originally scheduled for Noon, was moved up due to a threat of rain in the afternoon.

First things first.  Carthage's Jared Helmich (Jr., Lake Villa, Ill./Fox Lake-Grant Community) extended his hitting streak to 26 games in the opener by blooping a single to right-center field to lead off the second inning.  

Millikin took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the opener.  After the Big Blue loaded the bases with two outs, Carthage pitcher Josh Daniels walked Julian Gutierrez to force in the first run and then hit Brian Ekiss with a pitch to score the second run.  Carthage came up with a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI-single by Matt Rave.  An RBI-single by Zach Wade in the fourth tied the game at 2-2.  Millikin scored a go-ahead run in the seventh.  Erik Schurtz singled to shortstop, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Nick Schmdlkofer.  The Big Blue added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI-triple by Schurtz.  The Red Men scored a run in the ninth on an RBI-double by pinch-hitter John Burkiewicz, but Millikin closer Ben Peters got Jared Knoespel on a fly ball to center field to end the game, the Big Blue winning, 4-3.

Sean Beal (5-3) was the winning pitcher, with Peters earning his fifth save.  Josh Daniels (Sr., Elk Grove, Ill., 4-1) took his first loss of the year and allowed three runs on just two hits but seven walks over seven innings.  Jared Helmich went two-for-four for the Red Men.

In the nightcap, Carthage broke a scoreless tie with a four-run third inning.  Drew Bailey hit a bases-loaded, three-run double to the leftfield corner, and Reed Hero followed with an RBI-double to the same spot to score Bailey.  Jared Knoespel's RBI-single in the fourth and an unearned run in the fifth upped the Red Men's lead to 6-0.  In the sixth with two runners on, Jared Helmich hit deep fly ball that went over Millikin leftfield Cody Blunk's head for a two-run double.  Helmich's two-bagger extended his hitting streak to 27 games, breaking Glen Braun's 1999 school record of 26 games.  Zach Wade followed with an RBI-single to make it a 9-0 game.  Drew Bailey's RBI-single in the seventh upped the lead to 10-0, and the game was halted due to a 10-run rule.

Tim Sulik (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI, 3-1) was the winning pitcher.  He retired the first 12 batters in order and had a no-hitter going until Jake Stanton singled with two outs in the seventh.  Sulik wound up throwing a one-hitter with one walk and four strikeouts over seven innings.  Kyle Davidson (4-2) took the loss.  Nick Pierce (Fr., Oconomowoc, Wis.) went three-for-three, and Drew Bailey (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill.) went three-for-five with four RBI.

"We lost the first game, even though we out-hit them, 9-3," pointed out Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV.  "We out-hit them today, 25-4, and only got a split.  We walked seven guys and hit three in the first game.  Josh Daniels got out-of-synch for one inning.  It wasn't that we played real bad, it's just the pitching wasn't there.  It was a weird day.  Tim Sulik was just throwing strikes in the second game, and he really had a nice effort.  I never thought anyone was going to break Glen Braun's hitting streak—good for Jared Helmich.  He's worked hard, and he's been a great addition and become a leader.  Every game he's put a Carthage uniform on, he's gotten a hit, and that's pretty cool.  We liked him when we recruited him three years ago, and we like him even more now."