Marietta 2, Carthage 1
Marietta 5, Carthage 4, 14 innings

The Carthage College baseball team (2-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for 41st place in the March 8 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association /”D3baseball.com” poll,  took No. 8 Marietta College (10-1) to the mat on Saturday, March 12 but lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Pioneers, 3-2 and 5-4, the second game in 14 innings, at North County Regional Park in North Port, Fla.

 

Mario Perez pitched the first three innings of the opener and blanked the Pioneers on two hits and a walk. Matt Martinski took over in the fourth for the big lefty, who is a little behind the other pitchers, due to some floating bone chips in his elbow. The bone chips will not requires surgery, but Perez missed some time during indoor practice due to the injury. Marietta broke a scoreless tie in the fifth. Mike Natale was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Alex Toth doubled him to third. One out later, Evan Brockmeier singled in Natale. Britt Meador singled home Toth, and John Snyder drove in Brockmeier with a single.

 

Carthage scored two runs off Marietta pitcher Brian Gasser in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back walks to Josh Albers and Matt Soderlund, followed by a sacrifice bunt, put runners on second and third. Billy Herrin hit a sharp single to left to score both runners, cutting the lead to 3-2. Marietta's Brian Gasser gave way to Logan Lewis in the sixth, and the Red Men's Matt Martinski was relieved by freshman Jeremy Salzman in the eighth. 

Brian Gasser (3-0) was the winning pitcher and allowed just two runs on five hits and three walks over five innings. Pioneer closer Kyle Lindquist took over for Logan Lewis to start the ninth inning and pitched a one-two-three inning for his fourth save. Matt Martinski (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 0-1) took the loss. Martinski gave up all three Marietta runs on six hits over four inning. Billy Herrin (Sr., Galesburg, Ill.) went two-for-four with two RBI for Carthage.

 

In the nightcap, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the third in a rather uncharacteristic manner. After Billy Herrin led off with a ringing double down the right field line, Chris D'Angelo and Joe Aiello followed with back-to-back bunt singles. The 2011 season may not be the usual Carthage “big bang.” In any event, John Hasser delivered an RBI-single to score Herrin, and Zach Kozlowski singled in both D'Angelo and Aiello for a 3-0 lead. Marietta got a run back off pitcher Danny Dahm in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit. 

The Pioneers shaved the lead to 3-2 in the fourth when Aaron Hopper tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Evan Brockmeier. Zack Kozlowski's RBI-double in the fifth upped the Red Men's lead to 4-2. John Snyder doubled in a run for Marietta in the sixth to make it 4-3. Billy Montemayor relieved Dahm in the sixth. The Pioneers loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, but Carthage escaped damage with a bang-bang, pitcher to catcher to first base double play to end the inning.

 

Michael Sanchez, a converted infielder-turned-closer, took over for Montemayor with a runner on second and no outs in the eighth. Evan Brockmeier drove in Casey Levens, who had led off with a double, with an infield grounder to tie the game, 4-4. In the Marietta 10th inning, Kirby Becker opened the frame with a base on balls and went to third on a single over the third-base bag by John Snyder. Levens was walked intentionally to load the bases, and freshman Sam Wilhelms relieved Sanchez. Wilhelms induced an infield grounder, a popup and easy fly ball to send the game into the 11th inning.

 

The game remained tied until the Pioneers finally won the game in the bottom of the 14th inning. With Danny Davies pitching in relief of Wilhelms, Kirby Becker reached on an infield error, and John Snyder was hit by a Davies pitch. Both runners moved up on a bunt, and Aaron Hopper drove in the winning run with a fielder's choice grounder. Evan Brockmeier (1-0), the fourth Marietta pitcher and the starting third baseman, was credited with the win. Danny Davies (Sr., Oak Creek, Wis., 0-1), the fifth Red Men hurler, took the loss. Billy Herrin (Sr., Galesburg, Ill.) went three-for-six, and Zach Kozlowski (Jr., Menomonee Falls, Wis./Sussex-Hamilton) went two-for-four with two doubles and three RBI.

“We're very disappointed,” said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV. “The first game was a good game, but we gave them everything in the second game. We should have won the second game with four runs—that's how good our pitching was. We played with one of the best teams in the country, and our pitchers really came up big, particularly Danny Dahm and Sam Wilhelms. We've pretty much blown up our staff. We're not hitting the ball, and we struck out way too many times, looking. We didn't execute the bunt game at all. There's no shame in getting beat by a team like Marietta, but the shame is losing a game that you could have won.”

 

On Sunday, March 13, the Red Men take on Rhodes College (6-10) in a Noon, EDT game at South County Regional Park in Punta Gorda, Fla.  On Monday, March 14, Carthage plays No. 1 Heidelberg University at Noon, EDT, also at South County Regional Park.  On Tuesday, March 15, Carthage takes on Montclair State University in a 10 a.m., EDT game at North County Regional Park.  On Wednesday, March 16, the Red Men play Utica College in a 2 p.m., EDT game at North County Regional Park.  Following an off-day on March 17, Carthage plays Otterbein University in a Friday, March 18 doubleheader at North County Regional Park.  The trip concludes with a single game versus No. 34 Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m., also at North County Regional Park.