By Steve Marovich, Athletics Staff Writer/2022 Baseball Contact
The Carthage College baseball team (5-12) concluded a three-game trip to Terre Haute, Ind., on Sunday, March 27 with a 13-1 loss to the Illinois Institute of Technology at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Art Nehf Field.
Carthage snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday, March 26 with a dramatic, come-from-behind 5-4 win over Illinois Tech. On Friday night, March 25, Carthage lost a 6-2 decision to Rose-Hulman.
On Sunday, Illinois Tech put a five-spot on Carthage in an ugly first inning off starting pitcher Nick Hamilton, scoring its runs on four hits, two walks, two infield errors, two wild pitches and a passed ball. Michael Paxson's solo home run the third gave the Scarlet Hawks a 6-0 lead. In the fifth, RBI-singles by Brandon Bennitt and Paxson gave Illinois Tech and 8-0 lead, and a two-run single by Bennitt in the sixth made it 10-0.
The Firebirds finally got on the board in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Jake Snider, but Illinois Tech tacked on three more runs in the seventh for a 13-1 lead. In that half-inning, Illinois Tech's Michael Lindenmuth hit an RBI-single off his younger brother, Firebirds pitcher James Lindenmuth. David Cooper and Timmy Old also hit RBI-singles in the inning. Carthage went out in order in the seventh, and the game was called due to an 10-run rule.
Scarlet Hawks pitcher Connor Blake (1-0) got a complete-game win by limiting Carthage to a single run on three hits, two walks and seven strikeouts over seven innings. Nick Hamilton (0-4) took the loss and allowed six runs, only two earned, on five hits and two walks over four innings. Jake Hartman Jr. entered the game in the fifth inning and Lindenmuth in the sixth.
"We just played bad baseball today," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. "Nick Hamilton didn't do his job early, and then the defense didn't do its job behind him. Once he got settled in, the errors started. You can't spot the other team a touchdown. We're not swinging the bat at all. We're such a young team, and we're getting taught a lot of lessons right now. We have to get better."
Carthage was scheduled to play next on Wednesday, March 30 against the Milwaukee School of Engineering at MSOE Raiders Stadium in Glendale, Wis., but that contest was canceled due to weather The Firebirds open College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play next Saturday, April 2 with a 1 p.m. doubleheader versus Illinois Wesleyan University at Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill.