The Carthage College baseball team (14-2, 5-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) swept a Tuesday, March 31 doubleheader from CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 7-14, 2-3 CCIW), 4-3 and 7-1, at Lee Pfund Stadium/Legion Field in Carol Stream, Ill.
Wheaton scored single runs in both the first and second innings of the opener, before Matt Rave's two-run double in the fourth tied the game, 2-2. An RBI-double by the Thunder's Johnny Peltz in the fifth put Wheaton up, 3-2. An RBI-single by Rave in the sixth tied the game again at 3-3. Anthony Fortunato doubled in the go-ahead run for the Red Men in the top of the 10th inning.
Pitcher Kyle Cibrario (Jr., Libertyville, Ill.) started the game and worked the first seven and one-third innings, allowing all three runs on eight hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Luke Mentkowski (Jr., Greenfield, Wis./Whitnall, 1-0) entered the game in eighth and picked up the win by blanking Wheaton on three hits over the final two and two-thirds innings. Nick Johnson (1-2), the second-of-two Thunder hurlers, took the loss. Carthage's Matt Rave (So., Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) went three-for-five with three RBI.
After Wheaton took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap, Jared Knoespel's RBI-single in the fifth tied the game, 1-1. The Red Men scored four times in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead. Drew Bailey hit a two-run single, and Reed Hero and Jared Helmich both followed RBI-singles. Bailey, who went two-for-five with four RBI in the game, hit a two-run homer in the ninth to close out the scoring at 7-1. Tim Sulik (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI, 2-0) was the winning pitcher for Carthage with a nine-inning, complete-game effort. He limited the Thunder to one run on five hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. Daniel Bayer (0-2) took the loss.
On Friday, April 3, the Red Men open a three-game series with conference-opponent and No. 24 Augustana College (Ill.. 17-4, 4-1 CCIW) at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field in Moline, Ill. The two teams play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday followed by single game on Saturday, April 4 at Noon.