What a difference 48 hours makes. After the Carthage College baseball team (31-11), ranked 20th in the May 16 "D3baseball.com" poll, lost to Buena Vista University to open the NCAA Division III Central Region Championship on Wednesday, May 18, the Red Men were wondering how long they might stick around. Now, with a 10-4 win over No. 24 Thomas More College (29-9) on Friday, May 20 in a third-round game, Carthage will play in the Saturday, May 21 championship round at Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. The Red Men will face Buena Vista again in a Noon game on Saturday, with Nic Jensen (Sr., Appleton, Wis./East, 4-1, 4.15 earned run average) on the hill.
The Beavers (31-15) eliminated No. 40 Illinois Wesleyan University (28-18), 7-6, on Friday night. Carthage would have to defeat the Beavers twice on Saturday to claim the regional title. Saturday's weather forecast, however, calls for a 70 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms.
On the first day of regional action on Wednesday, Buena Vista University ran a "small-ball" clinic, and Carthage committed five infield errors, as the fifth-seeded Beavers (29-15) defeated the second-seeded Red Men, 8-1, in a first-round game. It was not a day to be top-seeded team, as the No. 1 seed, Coe College (32-11 and ranked 26th nationally), lost to sixth-seeded Ripon College (21-18), 3-2, in Wednesday's first game. Fourth-seeded Illinois Wesleyan (27-16) completed the sweep of the top seeds in Wednesday's third game by edging third-seeded Thomas More (28-8), 3-2. On Thursday, Carthage stayed alive by eliminating Coe College (32-12), 5-3. Thomas More (29-8) defeated Ripon (21-19), 5-3, in Thursdays second game, with Buena Vista (30-15) winning over Illinois Wesleyan (27-17) by a 7-1 margin. Illinois Wesleyan (28-17) eliminated Ripon (21-20), 7-1, in Friday's first game.
In the Red Men's win over Thomas More, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Tyler Eickmeyer singled, stole second and scored on a single by Will Hodges. Thomas More tied the game in the bottom half David Kennett led off with a single, went to third on an infield single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sam Schmeltzer. Three Saints errors in the second inning opened the door for a six-run Carthage outburst that gave the Red Men a 7-1 lead. Chris D'Angelo led off with double to the corner that rightfielder Ryan Darner misplayed, allowing D'Angelo to take third base. D'Angelo scored on grounder by Josh Albers. Kyle Pusateri doubled and took third on an error by shortstop David Kennett. Tyler Eickmeyer walked to load the bases, and Joey Aiello doubled in two runs. Will Hodges followed with another two-run double, and he scored on an error at first base. The double by Hodges chased starting pitcher David Etscheid (6-3) from the game.
Carthage made it a 9-2 game in the seventh. Matt Soderlund scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch, and Eickmeyer singled in a run. Thomas More threatened in the eighth off starting pitcher Eric Rohe. The Saints loaded the bases, and Rohe issued a walk to Brandon Nutini to force in a run before getting Kennett to fly to left to end the inning. A Josh Albers double in the ninth gave Carthage a 10-4 lead and closed out the scoring. Eric Rohe (Jr., Mundelein, Ill., 7-2) allowed four runs, two earned, on 10 hits and two walks over eight innings, while striking out nine batters. Mitch Lochen (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) worked a scoreless ninth inning. Will Hodges (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Naperville-North) went four-for-five with a double and three RBI, and the senior outfielder is now seven-for-10 in the tournament. Matt Soderlund (Sr., Racine, Wis./Washington Park) also had four hits in five trips.
"There's a little fight left in this dog," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "and the dog is us. We got a great pitching performance from Eric Rohe, and the scoreboard didn't even reflect how well he pitched because of our shoddy defense. We're playing very tentatively, defensively, and just not making plays. We were lucky Rohe struck out nine guys, because in the eighth inning, I wasn't sure we were going to make a play if the ball was hit on the ground. We are just not tough enough, defensively. Rohe's pitch count finally reached the point where I had to bring in Mitch Lochen for the ninth. That being said, we did turn some double plays, and we hit the ball around a little bit. I guess you have to take what comes. We'll re-group, and hopefully we can play with better confidence tomorrow. Buena Vista is playing very well, and I suppose they're the best team at the moment, but the best team doesn't always win. Maybe we can gut this thing through tomorrow and get this thing."