Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Carthage College baseball team (8-10, 2-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) opened a three-game series with CCIW-opponent Millikin University (5-14, 1-6 CCIW) by splitting a Saturday, April 5 doubleheader at Sunnyside Park in Decatur, Ill.  The Red Men won the first game, 6-1, but the Big Blue scored two late runs to take the nightcap, 7-6 in 11 innings.  The two teams conclude the set with a Noon single game on Sunday, April 6.
 
In the opening game, Carthage broke open a 3-1 game with a three-run ninth inning.  Zach Wade hit a two-run single and Nick Schmidlkofer a sacrifice fly.  The Red Men broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on a solo home run by Drew Bailey, and Wade singled in a run in the fifth.  Carthage's other run came in the eighth on an RBI-single by Marc Mantucca.  Andrew Arenson (Sr., Naperville, Ill./North, 2-0) was the winning pitcher, as he limited the Big Blue to one run on five hits and two walks over seven innings, while striking out 10 batters.  Sam Wilhelms (Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.) worked the final two innings for his third save.  Zach Wade (Fr., Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) went two-for-four with three RBI. 
 
The Big Blue took a 3-0 lead in the third inning of the nightcap.  Carthage scored two in the fourth, but Millikin added another run in the fifth to make it 4-2.  The Red Men took a 5-4 lead with a three-run seventh inning, but the Big Blue knotted it up, 5-5, in the bottom half.  Carthage took a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth, but Millikin sent things into extra innings with a run in the bottom of the ninth.  The Big Blue scored the game-winning run in the 11th.  Millikin put two runner on base with nobody out.  A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, and a fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Andrew Hendrian allowed Brian Dixon to score the game-winning run.
 
Brian Huntsinger (Sr., Glendale, Wis./Milwaukee-Nicolet) went four-for-six, and Zach Wade two-for-three with an RBI, completing a four-for-seven day at the plate.  Pitcher Josh Daniels (Sr., Elk Grove, Ill.) started the game and allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits and five walks over six and two-thirds innings.  The loss went to Raymond Wojciechowsk (So., Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton, 1-1).  Kyle Davidson (1-4) picked up the win for the Big Blue.