The Carthage College baseball team (5-6, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) split a Monday, March 25 doubleheader at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz., outlasting Oberlin College (6-3), 10-9 in 10 innings, before losing to Williams College (4-6) by an 8-5 margin.
In the win over Oberlin, Carthage loaded the bases in the first inning and wound up scoring twice on one hit, one walk, three hit batters and a wild pitch. Oberlin came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead. The Red Men cut the lead to 4-3 in the second when Matt Cmiel singled, went to third on a single by Tanner Wensman and scored, on the same play, on a throwing error by the Oberlin shortstop. A two-run double by Marc Mantucca in the fifth gave the Red Men a 5-4 lead.
The Yeoman re-gained the lead, 7-5, with a three-run fifth inning. Eric Knight singled in two runs. Then with Knight on first, Zach Jaspers dropped a bunt down the third baseline. Third baseman Kyle Pusateri called pitcher Kurtis Ligocki off the play, but Pusateri was unable to come up with the ball. In the confusion, Knight scored all the way from first base and Jaspers wound up on second with a bunt double. A sacrifice fly by Mattie DeDoes in the sixth gave Oberlin an 8-5 lead, and a Robin Witjes RBI-single in the seventh made it 9-5.
The Red Men scored four times in the eighth to knot things up, 9-9. Matt Richer forced in a run with a bases-loaded walks. Mike Gentile followed with a fielder's choice-RBI, Mike Pugliese a sacrifice fly and Sean Carroll a pinch-hit RBI-single. With two outs in the Carthage 10th inning, Oberlin leftfielder Ryan Bliss dropped a medium fly ball that allowed Coin Semler to score the go-ahead run from second base. Sam Wilhelms (Jr., Fond du Lac, Wis., 1-2), the fourth-of-four Carthage pitchers, picked up the win by blanking the Yeoman over the final two and one-third innings. Sam Burnett started the game, and he was followed by Kurtis Ligocki and Steve Kraynak. Mike McDonald (0-1), the fourth Oberlin hurler, took the loss. Marc Mantucca (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Central) drove in three runs.
In the Williams game, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when a failed pickoff play at first base permitted Colin Semler to score from second. Williams took a 2-1 lead in the second and made it 4-1 in the third on a two-run home run by K.C. Murphy. A two-run double by Phil McGovern in the fifth gave the Ephs a 6-1 lead, and a run-scoring single by Darren Hartwell in the sixth made it 7-1.
The Red Men scored three in the eighth to close the gap to 7-4. Mike Farias tripled in two runs and Mike Gentile another with a single. Williams tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth to go up, 8-4, and Carthage managed a single run in the ninth for the final, 8-5 margin. Ephs starting pitcher Dan Smith (1-1) limited the Red Men to one unearned run over on three hits and four walks over seven innings. Marc Mantucca (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Central, 0-1) took the loss. Mantucca worked the first three innings and surrendered four runs on six hits. Former Red Men football quarterback/wide receiver Trevor Beazley worked the middle four innings, and Luke Mentkowski pitched the eighth frame.
Carthage wraps up the trip on Tuesday, March 26 with a 2 p.m., MST game versus St. John's University.