Life support and maybe a little better than that. That's where the Carthage College baseball team (12-10, 4-5) stands in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin standings after winning the rubber game of a three-game set with Millikin University (10-11, 5-4) on Sunday, April 7 at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis. The two teams split a Saturday, April 6 doubleheader, also at Augie Schmidt Field, with Carthage winning the opening game, 4-1, before dropping the nightcap by a 9-1 margin.
On Sunday, Carthage starting pitcher Jacob Delabio got in trouble in the first inning. After getting two quick outs, he gave a up a single to Brent Beals and then a two-run home run to Jon Walters.
The Red Me came up with a seven-run second inning to take a 7-2 lead. Carthage's runs came on an RBI-single by Johnny Belskis, a two-run double by Ben Levicki, an RBI-double by Jake Snider, a two-run double by Ryan Kramer and an RBI-single by Vince Schwartz.
A two-out walk by Delabio in the fourth came back to haunt him, as the next batter, Merrik Eddington, doubled, followed by a two-run triple by Gabe Soria. Anthony Bryan then tripled in Soria and scored himself when Myles Farley's relay throw went wide of third base. With the two-out, four-run outburst, Millikin trailed by just a run, 7-6. That was the end of the scoring.
Pasquale Atteo (2-0) took over for Delabio in the fifth and blanked the Big Blue on two hits and two walks over the next four and one-third innings. DeLabio, still in search of his first win after five starts, lasted just four innings and allowed six runs on five hits, four walks and three strikeouts.
Things did get a little dicey in the top of the ninth, however. Pinch-hitter Luke Azzarelli singled to open the inning and moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Merrik Eddington walked, and closer Brian Polaski came in for Atteo. A wild pitch by Polaski moved both runners up, but the big right hander got Gabe Soria on a swinging strikeout for the second out before hitting Anthony Bryan to load the bases. Fortunately, Mason Bruce hit an easy grounder that second baseman Ryan Kramer scooped up to make the final out.
Ben Williamson (2-2), the first-of-seven Big Blue hurlers, took the loss, with Polaski earning his third save of the year. "We gave our pitching staff a tough time," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "but the pitchers won this game. That was the best that Jacob Delabio has thrown all year. Pasquale Atteo gave us five strong innings, and the big boy [Brian Polaski] came on for the save. I feel a little bit better about the pitching today."
Vince Schwartz led the Red Men with three hits in four trips to the plate, along with a run scored and an RBI. Johnny Belskis went two-for-four with an RBI.
"This was a big win for us," continued Schmidt. "Millikin has a really good club, and I think they'll be there at the end. For us to win two-of-three from them was huge. There's still a long ways to go in the CCIW race, and this league beats the tar out of each other all the time. I'm not sure it matters who plays who—it's almost always a close game. Some of the better teams in the league seem to be struggling right now. You have to show up and be ready to play every time."
Carthage travels to Howards Grove, Wis., on Tuesday, April 9 to take on non-conference opponent Lakeland University (2-14) in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Muskie Field.