Box Score

Loser's brackets have never really fazed Carthage baseball. The Red Men have battled through so many over the years, that double-elimination survival has become something they're known for. Carthage (29-17) survived day two of the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional on Thursday, May 20 with a 10-5 decision that eliminated Aurora University (27-16) at Wisconsin-Whitewater's Prucha Field/Miller Stadium in Whitewater, Wis. 

“You have to win every one of these games when you have a chance to,” said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, “and not worry about who's coming next.” Who's coming next is defending-national-champion and No. 5 the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 34-8) on Friday, May 21 at 1 p.m. Counting Friday's game, three of Carthage's last four NCAA games have been against St. Thomas (Minn.)

The Tommies were edged by Wisconsin-Stevens Point (31-15), 2-1, in Thursday's third-and-final game. In Thursday's second game, Wisconsin-Whitewater (40-5) eliminated St. Scholastica (38-8), 6-2. The Warhawks advanced to Friday's “undefeated game” against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a game won by the Pointers (32-15), 12-4.. Wisconsin-Whitewater (40-6) plays the Carthage-St. Thomas (Minn.) winner at 4 p.m. for the right to advance to the regional-championship round on Saturday, May 22. In first-round action on Wednesday, May 19, Carthage lost to St. Thomas (Minn.), 14-6, with Wisconsin-Whitewater defeating Aurora, 6-1, and Wisconsin-Stevens Point upending St. Scholastica, 12-1. 

For the second day in a row, Carthage got off to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Red Men scored on an RBI-double by Mike Petti, a two-out error by Spartan shortstop Bobby Wilson and an RBI-single by Zach Tavs. Aurora got a run back in the bottom of the first. The Spartans had the bases loaded with two outs before Red Men starting pitcher Mario Perez got Matt Anklam on strikes to end the inning. Carthage picked up another run in the second when Tyler Eickmeyer tripled and scored on an infield grounder by Trevor Whately. Perez and Aurora hurler Dan McCarthy traded zeros until the sixth inning when an error by Red Men third baseman Josh Albers led to a Spartan run, trimming Carthage's lead to 4-2.

In the seventh, the Red Men put two runners on with nobody out, and Mike Petti hit a three-run homer to up Carthage's lead to 7-2. Aurora scored three in the seventh off relief pitcher Eric Rohe to make it a 7-5 contest. The Red Men came right back in the top of the eighth when a two-run double by Will Hodges restored their four-run margin, 9-5. A sacrifice fly by Trevor Whately in the ninth closed out the scoring at 10-5.

Mario Perez (5-3) went six innings and limited the Spartans to two runs, one earned, on four hits and four walks. Eric Rohe went the last three innings earned his first save despite giving up the three runs in the seventh. Starter Dan McCarthy (7-2) took the loss for Aurora . Mike Petti led the Carthage attack by going two-for-four with four RBI. Joey Aiello, Will Hodges and Tyler Eickmeyer had two hits each.

“Mario Perez couldn't throw yesterday,” said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, “and he wasn't really at the top of his game today, either. But he did enough good things to keep Aurora off balance. His effort was enough to give us a chance to win and to continue our season. Hats off to him, because he's hurting, but he gave us six good innings. Eric Rohe also gave us three good innings, even though he wasn't very sharp, either. Our plan today was to start Mario and take whatever we could get from him, even if that was only an inning or two. At this point in the season, you can't worry about tomorrow until tomorrow. We're not in very good shape, pitching wise, but we got the win and we live to see another day. These are all very good teams. There's just a not a bad team in this group of six.”