The Carthage College baseball team (9-9, 2-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) split a home conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 5 with Wheaton College (Ill., 15-7, 4-1 CCIW) at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.  The Red Men won the opening game, 5-2, before losing the nightcap, 10-0, in seven innings.

In the opener, pitchers Tim Sulik and Peter Moran were locked in a scoreless duel before Wheaton scored twice in the sixth.  The Thunder's Jacob Zeller led off with a double, went to second on a infield grounder and scored on an RBI-single by Clay Morrison.  John McKenna's sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game. The Red Men tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom half.  Alex Letto's RBI-single scored the first run, but the key play, with Letto on first, was an errant pickoff throw from Moran that allowed Letto to move up to third base.  Zach Wade's RBI-double then scored Letto.  Carthage took a 4-2 lead in the seventh on RBI-singles by Jared Helmich and Matt Rave.  The Red Men added an insurance run the eighth on an RBI-double by A.J. Kaprelian.

Tim Sulik (2-1) was the winning pitcher and limited the Thunder to two runs on six hits, three walks and six strikeouts over seven and two-thirds innings.  Luc DiMaso worked the final inning and a third to earn his first save.  Peter Moran (2-2) took the loss and allowed two runs, one earned, on nine hits, no walks and no strikeouts over five and two-thirds inning.  Jared Helmich led Carthage's 15-hit attack by going three-for-five with two runs scored and an RBI.

In the nightcap, Wheaton scored a single run the first and two in the third off starting pitcher Dalton Sjong.  The two runs in the third came on a two-double by Jacob Zeller.  The Thunder made it 9-0 with a six-run fifth.  A three-run double by John McKenna was the big blow in the fifth.  Wheaton closed out the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh, and the game was called after Carthage's at bat due to a 10-run rule.

Wheaton pitcher Christian Bolus (1-0) stopped the Red Men with a four-hit shutout over seven innings.  Bolhuis walked one and struck out four.  Dalton Sjong (1-2), the first of four Red Men hurlers, took the loss and gave us three runs on three hits and a walk over four innings.

Carthage and North Park University (7-11, 1-1 CCIW) complete their three-game series on Wednesday, April 6 with a 4 p.m. at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.