By Steve Marovich, Athletics Staff Writer/2022 Baseball Contact

The Carthage College baseball team (5-14, 0-2 CCIW) opened College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play on Sunday, April 3 by losing both ends of split doubleheader to Illinois Wesleyan University and North Park University at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage lost to Illinois Wesleyan (10-8, 1-0), 23-1 in seven innings, before falling to North Park (7-12, 1-0) by a 10-2 margin.  The twinbill was necessitated by a weather-related postponement of Saturday's scheduled doubleheader at Illinois Wesleyan.  The second Illinois Wesleyan game has been re-scheduled for Sunday, April 10 at Jack Horenberger Field.

In Sunday's Illinois Wesleyan game, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning on an Infield single by Colton Klein, along with an infield throwing error allowing Austin Prybylinski to score.  Illinois Wesleyan tied the game in the bottom of the first.  The Titans loaded the bases off starting pitcher Nic Vittriti, on two walks and hit batter, and Jalen Ping hit a sacrifice fly.

Illinois Wesleyan scored seven runs in the second inning to take an 8-1 lead.  The Titans again loaded the bases on Vitritti before Evan Ranneklev delivered a two-run single.  Dom DiLello followed with an RBI-single, and Jared Mutter and Brady Hartman followed with two-run singles.

An RBI-single by Ping in the third upped the Illinois Wesleyan lead to 9-1. The Titans got another seven-run inning in the fourth on a Cole Greer RBI-single, a two-run double by DiLello, a run-scoring passed ball, two-run double by Ethan Burgh and Brady Hartman sacrifice fly to up the lead to 16-1.

Illinois Wesleyan enjoyed a third seven-run frame in the fifth on a two-run single by Collin Elvers, another two-run single by Matt Robertson and RBI-singles by Evan Hutson, Casey Swanson and Jimmy Gurgone to end the scoring at 23-1, as the game was halted after seven innings due to a 10-run rule.  The Titans collected 21 hits and 10 walks off five Carthage pitchers.  Dom DiLello and Louis Perona had three hits each, with Jalen Ping driving in four runs.

Scott Monocchio (3-0) was the winning pitcher for Illinois Wesleyan, as he limited Carthage to a single run on four hits, two walks and six strikeouts over six innings.  Jay Lemenager worked a scoreless seventh inning.  Nic Vitritti (0-1) took the loss and allowed the first six runs, five earned, on three hits and four walks in the first inning.  Troy Siranovic followed in the second, Ben Massoglia in the fourth, Jacob Pappagallo in the fifth and Thomas Coffey in the sixth.

In the second game, North Park jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, two runs coming on a two-run single by Jim Zay.  An RBI-single by Justin Swanson in the second made it 4-0, and a run-scoring single by Reece Arakaki in the third made it a 5-0 contest.  Carthage's Bryce Prybylinski hit a long two-run home run in the third to cut the lead to 5-2.

The Viking took advantage of five Firebird walks in the fourth inning to score three more runs on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Bartlett and a wild pitch/outfield throwing error that score two runners for an 8-2 lead.  A Ranko Stevanovic RBI-single in the fifth and a Brad Maurer RBI-single in the sixth upped the margin to 10-2.

Ethan Sund (4-2) was the winning pitcher for the Vikings, as he allowed two runs on just three hits and five walks over six and two-thirds innings, while striking out nine batters.  Bryce Schaum (0-2) took the loss and surrendered the first eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits, six walks and four strikeouts over three and two-thirds innings.  Nathan Schnabel entered the game in the fourth, Jake Hartman Jr. in the sixth and Chance Roach in the ninth.  Hartman was quite effective, striking out 10 batters over three and two-thirds innings.

Carthage travels to Moline, Ill., on Tuesday, April 5 to take on CCIW-opponent Augustana College (Ill., 15-5, 1-2) in a 1 p.m. game at Swanson Stadium.