By Steve Marovich, Athletics Staff Writer/2022 Baseball Contact
The Carthage College baseball team (6-16, 1-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) snapped a five-game losing streak and picked up its first CCIW win of the year with a 14-0 decision over Carroll University (Wis. 11-13, 4-) in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis. Carroll won the opening game, 2-1 in 11 innings. Carthage pitchers had a combined no-hitter and a 1-0 lead after eight innings in the first game.
In the opener, Carthage broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Cody Tostrud led off the frame by slicing a double down the left field line, advancing to third on an infield grounder and scoring on a single to left by Colton Klein. With one out in the Carthage fifth, Jake Snider hit a stand-up triple to right-center field, but was unable to advance on an infield single by Collin Callahan or on an infield grounder by Kody Krekling.
With one out in the Carroll sixth, the Pioneers put two runners on via a walk and hit batter. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, but Guarascio got Justin Baker on a swinging strikeout and Benton Holly on an infield grounder to the threat.
Jake Hartman Jr. replaced a tiring Guarascio to start the seventh inning, and Hartman struck out the side in the inning with two more strikeouts in the eighth. The Firebirds were now three outs away from a 1-0 win on a combined no-hitter.
In the Carroll ninth, Casey Mir opened the inning with a double and went to third on a ground ball. Hartman struck out Holly for the second out. Nick Angus hit a pop fly to short right center that Kody Krekling was camped under but dropped for an error, allowing Mir to score the game-tying run. Hartman proceeded to load the bases, but Nathan Schnabel came on to get a grounder to end the inning tied at 1-1.
The Firebirds went scoreless in the 10th inning. In the Carroll half of the 11th, Clay Schult led off with single to right. Holly doubled him to third, and Angus was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With one out, Mitchell Massino reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Schult to score from third for the go-ahead run, 2-1. Colton Klein reached on a single with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Bryce Prybylinski struck out swinging to end the game.
Dawson Kiphart (2-0), the second-of-three Pioneer hurlers, picked up the win by working a perfect 10th inning. Connor Nolen pitched the 11th to earn his first save. Pioneers starting pitcher Brett Buzzelli pitched extremely well, allowing one run on six hits, no walks and five strikeouts over nine innings. Carthage's Dante Guarascio was even better, blanking Carroll on no hits and three walks over the first six innings, while striking out seven batters. Jake Hartman Jr. pitched into the ninth, and Nathan Schnabel (0-1) took the loss with the run in the 11th inning.
In the nightcap, the Firebirds took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Prybylinski and an RBI-double by P.T. Boeye. A four-second inning gave Carthage a 6-0 lead. In the second, Austin Prybylinski connected on a three-run home run to dead center field, and Bryce Prybylinski hit an RBI double. The Firebirds tacked on three more runs in the third to up their lead to 9-0. An infield throwing error scored the first run. Cody Tostrud singled in the second, and Austin Prybylinski's sacrifice fly scored the third.
Drew Dyer's two-run homer in the fourth made it an 11-0 game. Carthage scored five runs in the sixth to go up, 16-0. A run-scoring single by Bryce Prybylinski started the scoring in the fifth, followed by a sacrifice fly by Boeye, an RBI-single by Evan Devine and RBI-single by Dyer with the fifth run scoring on an infield throwing error.
Four more Firebird runs in the sixth closed out the scoring at 20-0, and the game was called after seven innings due to a 10-run rule. Nick Caruso hit a pinch-hit run-scoring single, followed by a run scoring on a passed ball and a two-run pinch-hit home by Iyan Pelfree. Pelfree was making his first game appearance since injuring his pitching elbow against Macalester College on March 17 in Tucson, Ariz.
Carthage unloaded for 17 hits off seven Carroll pitchers. Cody Tostrud went four-for-five with three runs scored and a double. Drew Dyer went three-for-four with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run, and Austin Prybylinski drove in four runs.
Carthage pitcher Bryce Schaum threw a rare Firebirds complete game, as well as the team's first shutout of the year, by blanking the Pioneers on three hits, six walks and nine strikeouts over seven innings. Ben Ellifson (2-1), the Carroll starting pitcher, took the loss.
"Other teams have been giving our pitching a hard time," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "but we had four guys throw the tar out of the ball today. We were a caught popup from winning both games, so I'm proud of the team for coming back from that first game. We had that first game won and wound up losing in extra innings, but we played well in the second game. It felt good scoring a bunch of runs for a change. This team has been a little snake-bit, which was certainly the case in the first game, and that game left a mark. The schedule is going to get harder right away, and for this team especially, nothing is going to come easy."
Carthage travels to Bloomington, Ill., on Sunday, April 10 to complete its series against conference-opponent Illinois Wesleyan University (12-9, 3-1) in a 1 p.m. game at Jack Horenberger Field. The two-game series was originally scheduled for April 2, with the two teams getting in one game on April 3 in Kenosha, Wis.
Schedule Notes: Carthage's March 23rd game at Ripon College, originally postponed to April 10 and then postponed again, has been re-scheduled for Sunday, May 8 at 1 p.m. The Firebirds' April 26 contest at Concordia University (Wis.) has been canceled and replaced by a home game against Concordia University (Chicago), also on Tuesday, April 26 at 5 p.m.