After watching his team lose a 3-2 game to Gustavus Adolphus the day before, Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV noted that his offensive attack was "feast or famine." On Friday, the it was all feast, as the Red Men (4-3) exploded for 21 hits in a 12-11 donnybrook win over Bemidji State University (1-7) in Tucson, Ariz.
Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Vince Schwartz singled, advanced to second on an infield grounder and scored on single to center by Johnny Belskis. Bemidji State took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second off Red Men starting pitcher Matt Willett on RBI-singles by Noah Boser and Jackson Back. The Red Men tied the game, 2-2, in the third when Colton Klein doubled, moved up to third on a throwing error by the pitcher and scored on an RBI-single by Luke Beckmann.
The Beavers went back up, 4-2, in the bottom of third. Matt Kummet scored from third on a fielding error by Carthage second baseman Jim Mundo, and Noah followed with an RBI-triple.
A three-run outburst in the top of the fifth gave the Red Men a 5-4 edge. Schwartz and Myles Farley both hit RBI-doubles in the inning, and Farley scored when Belskis reached on an infield error. A sacrifice fly by Boser in the bottom of the fifth tied the game, 5-5, but a two-run single by Schwartz in the top of the sixth gave Carthage a 7-5 lead.
Carthage starting pitcher Willett left the game in the bottom of the sixth after Back led off with a double and nobody out. Ben Rietz took over and got one out before Isaiah Grancorvitz doubled to left-center scoring Back and trimming the Carthage margin to 7-6.
An RBI-single by Mundo in the top of the seventh put the Red Men up by two, 8-6, but a two-run homer by Boser in the bottom of the seventh tied the game, 8-8. Carthage re-gained the lead, 9-8, in the top of the eighth on an RBI-double by Schwartz, his second RBI-double of the game. Belskis and Matthew Pratscher followed with run-scoring singles, and the Red Men led by three, 11-8.
The Beavers came up with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, 11-11. Kade Nelson doubled in two runs, and Wyatt White doubled home the tying run. The Red Men came right back with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Beckmann opened the inning by reaching base on an infield error. Cody Phelps traded places with him on a fielder's choice, with Phelps moving up a base on an infield grounder. Jake Snider then singled to left, scoring Phelps from second.
Brian Polaski came in to pitch the ninth and immediately gave up a pair of singles before getting Grancorvitz and Caleb Carlson out on fly balls to end the game at 12-11. Carlson's out was a rocket to right field that Klein made a diving catch on to end the game. The win went to Clark Hendricks (1-0), who got the last out of the eighth inning in relief of Daniel Mutter. Polaski was credited with his first save of the year. Willett five innings and allowed six runs, four earned, on 10 hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Tommy Geisenhof (0-1), the fourth-of-four Beaver hurlers, took the loss.
"Matt Willett threw the ball really well against a pretty good hitting team," said coach Schmidt. "He threw strikes for the most part, he only walked two guys, and he pitched into the sixth inning. He was way more like the Matt Willett of old, so that was good to see."
Schwartz led the Red Men by going four-for-six with three runs scored, two doubles and four RBI. Belskis went three-for-five with two RBI and Beckmann three-for-six with an RBI.
"Today was a little bit of everything," said Schmidt. "The wind was really blowing out, so it was an offensive day. It was a frustrating game, because we kept blowing leads, but it turned into a barn-burner. If Colton Klein doesn't make that diving catch to end the game in the ninth, we'd still be playing. We got a lot of offensive help, besides just Klein. Vince Schwartz had a big day, and freshman Jake Snider got what turned out to be the game-winning hit. After getting beat on a walk off yesterday against Gustavus Adolphus and being the visiting team today, this one could have easily blown up on us. It was a wild college baseball game. I just hope we can find some consistency. I don't want to be the best .500 team in the country."
The Red Men head into the final three days of their 11-game trip to the Tucson Invitational on Saturday with a 3 p.m. MST contest against St. Olaf College.