The Carthage College baseball team (14-4, 6-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 16th in the April 5 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association /"D3baseball.com" poll, won the rubber game of a three-game series with CCIW-opponent North Central College (11-7, 5-3 CCIW), 8-7 in 10 innings, on Sunday, April 10 at Zimmerman Stadium/Alumni Field in Naperville, Ill. 

The two teams split a Saturday, April 9 doubleheader at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage won the first game, 5-4, but fell in the nightcap, 6-3 in 10 innings.  The loss in Saturday's second game snapped a 10-game Red Men winning streak, but Sunday's win left the Red Men in first place in the CCIW, following Augustana College's 16-15 loss on Sunday to Elmhurst College.

 In Sunday's win over the Cardinals, Carthage took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  Billy Herrin reached on an error by North Central first baseman Kevin Hennessey, advanced to second on a bunt and scored on a single to center by John Hasser.  Following a single by Will Hodges, Hasser scored on a double down the rightfield line by Zack Kozlowski.  Hodges wound up scoring on an error by Cardinals third baseman Hector Belen.  North Central got two runs back in the second on an RBI-grounder by Nick Daniels and an RBI-single by Brennan Hagansee.  The Cardinals took a 4-3 lead in the fifth.  Hagansee singled, and Matt Burke reached base when Carthage catcher Matt Soderlund was unable to come up with a bunt attempt.  Both runners advanced on a bunt by Dan Scott, and Matt Abraham's single drove in both runners. 

The Red Men tied the game, 4-4, in the sixth, as Kyle Pusateri doubled and scored on a single by Billy Herrin.  Carthage re-gained the lead, 5-4, in the eighth.  Zack Kozlowski reached on an error by second baseman Matt Burke, his second of the game and the fifth for the Cardinals.  Pinch-runner Tyler Eickmeyer advanced to third on a single by Chris D'Angelo and scored on a  Matt Soderlund sacrifice fly.  The Red Men made it a 7-4 game in the ninth.  Billy Herrin doubled, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a John Hasser single.  Carthage proceeded to load the bases, and Chris D'Angelo delivered a run-scoring single.

North Central scored three times in the ninth to send the game into an extra inning.  After singles by Nick Daniels and Brenna  Hagansee, Carthage pitcher Eric Rohe got a force at second, allowing Daniels to take third.  The next batter, Dan Scott, hit a roller to shortstop that had double play written all over it, but Kyle Pusateri threw the ball away, allowing Hagansee to score.  Matt Abraham walked to load the bases, and Sam Wilhelms replaced Rohe.  The freshman got pinch-hitter Charlie Hern on a called third strike for the second out, but Michael Corrigan hit a two-run single to left to tie the game, 7-7.  Pusateri redeemed himself in the top of the 10th inning by hitting a leadoff, solo home run down the leftfield down to put Carthage back up by a run, 8-7.

Wilhelms seemed to settle down in the bottom of the 10th.  The Cardinals got a runner aboard on an error by second baseman Mike Pugliese, but the Red Men turned a game-ending double play.  Sam Wilhelms (Fr., Fond du Lac, Wis., 1-0) was the winning pitcher.  Carthage wasted a fine performance from starter Eric Rohe (Jr., Mundelein, Ill.), who went eight and one-third innings and allowed one earned run on nine hits and a walk.  Loukas Kalliantasis (1-0), the fifth-of-six Cardinal hurlers, took  the loss.  Carthage's John Hasser (Sr., St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers) went two-for-five with two RBI, and Billy Herrin (Sr., Galesburg, Ill.) went two-for-six with a double and an RBI. 

"We probably should have won this game going away," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV.  "but it just didn't happen.  "This is not the way we need to play baseball.  That said, it was Carthage baseball. We blow the lead, and then we came back to win.  I'm glad we won, but we need to close out games better.  Eric Rohe pitched a terrific game, and I feel bad for him.  He deserved to win, but we kicked it around behind him.  We got two out of three from a good North Central club, so I guess winning ugly is better than losing."  Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 9-14, 1-6 CCIW) on Wednesday, April 13 in a Noon doubleheader at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis.