The Carthage College baseball team (28-10, 14-7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 22nd in the May 9 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association /"D3baseball.com" poll and third in the May 12 NCAA Division III Central Region poll, was one out away from a loss to Illinois Wesleyan University (26-15) on Friday, May 13 at the CCIW Baseball Tournament before a little-used freshman infielder turned the game around. Trailing, 4-3, with the tying run on second base and two outs, Mike Pugliese (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Arlington Heights-St. Francis) hit a walk off, two-run home run to send the Red Men into the championship round of the tournament at Illinois Wesleyan's Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. Eric Rohe (Jr., Mundelein, Ill., 5-2, 3.23 earned run average) will start for the Red Men in Saturday's game.
Carthage opened play in the tournament on Thursday, May 12 with a 9-4 win over No. 25 North Park University (30-11, 15-6 CCIW). No. 28 Illinois Wesleyan (26-14, 15-6) edged North Central College (20-16, 13-8), 5-4, in the other first-round contest. In Friday' first game, North Central (21-17) eliminated North Park (30-12), 5-4, as the Cardinals broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the ninth when catcher Kevin Corrigan worked a bases-loaded walk. Illinois Wesleyan (26-15) will take on North Central (Ill., 20-16) in an elimination game on Friday afternoon, with the winner taking on Carthage at Noon on Saturday, May 14 in the championship round.
In the win over Illinois Wesleyan, Carthage broke a scoreless tie with a run in the third inning. Mike Pugliese led off with a double. Billy Herrin reach base on a fielder's choice bunt, with Pugliese advancing to second. Pugliese scored when Zach Kozlowski rolled into a double play. That's they it stayed until the fifth, as Carthage's Danny Dahm and Illinois Wesleyan's Nick Mehn dueled away. Kyle Pusateri led off the fifth with a solo home run to straightway leftfield. Brian Huntsinger followed with a single. The freshman outfielder advanced to third on a throwing error by Titan shortstop Zach Scott and scored on a single to right by Joey Aiello.
Dahm was cruising along with a two-hitter until a hit batter, an infield error and a blown double play opened the doors for a three-run Titan fifth inning. Mark McDermott doubled in two runs and Jonathan Erickson doubled in McDermott. Dahm gave way to Mitch Lochen with two on and one out in the seventh. Lochen got his first batter on a fly ball, but McDermott drilled a single up the middle to give IWU its first lead of the game at 4-3.
In the Carthage ninth, Eric Barber led off by bouncing a single over the third baseman's head. Tyler Eickmeyer ran for Barber and moved onto second on a sacrifice bunt. Huntsinger followed with a slicing fall ball to right-center that Ryan Hopp made a diving catch on for the second out. Nick Mehn's first pitch to Pugliese sailed over the leftfield fence for the game-winning two-run homer. Pugliese, who entered the game with just two hits in 20 at bats, went two-for-three with a double and a home run. "I haven't hit a home run since eighth grade," said Pugliese after the game.
Will Hodges went two-for-four. Mitch Lochen (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South, 2-1) picked up the win by blanking the Titans on two hits and a walk over the final two and two-thirds innings. Danny Dahm (Sr., Morton, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) went the first six and one-third innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and three walks. Mehn (6-2) gave up five runs, four earned, on nine hits and no walks.
"We're going to kids who haven't played a lot," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV," and they're producing. It started with pitching Nic Jensen yesterday. Today I started the little man [Pugliese] because of the left-handed pitcher, and he had great at bats all day. My coaches wanted me to pinch hit for him in the ninth with a big, tall kid who could get a hold of one, but I stuck with him, and he little guy hits a home run. I couldn't be happier with him. Or with Eric Barber. That whole inning was set up by two guys who have basically sat on the bench all year. I don't know what's going on. I think I have a horse shoe up my tail. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. Danny Dahm pitched well, except for the one inning where we sort of panicked, like we often do. It's that time of the season where you just take what comes, and we're happy as heck to be playing in the championship game."
The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Carthage is making its 23rd-straight appearance in the CCIW tournament under head coach Augie Schmidt IV. The last Red Men team not to qualify for the event was Schmidt's 1988 team, his first year at Carthage.