The Carthage College baseball team (9-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) outlasted Oberlin College (7-7), 11-10, on Tuesday, March 24 at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
 
Oberlin threatened to run away with the game, taking a 6-0 lead after two innings off Carthage starting pitcher Kyle Cibrario (Jr., Libertyville, Ill.).  A three-run homer by the Yeomen's Jeff Schweighoffer in the second inning was the big blow off Cibrario.  The Red Men came back with two runs in the second, two runs in the third and two more runs in the fourth inning to tie the game, 6-6.  Reed Hero hit an RBI-triple in the third, and Jared Knoespel followed with another RBI-triple in the fourth. 
 
Oberlin re-gained the lead, 7-6, in the top of the seventh, but a two-run homer by Hero in the bottom half gave Carthage the lead, for good, 8-7.  The Red Men went up, 11-7, in the eighth on a two-run homer by Knoespel and an RBI-single by Drew Bailey.  The Yeomen made things interesting in the ninth off Carthage reliever Chris Pedrak.  Oberlin's Benjamin Whitener hit a two-out, three-run double to close the gap to 11-10.  Pedrak got Justin Cruz on an infield grounder to end the game.
 
Carthage pitcher C.J. Casey (Fr., Hickory Hills, Ill./Palos Hills-Stagg, 1-0), making his first appearance of the year, was credited with the win in relief of Cibrario.  Casey pitched the sixth and seventh innings and allowed one run on two hits.  Pedrak picked up his second save.  Jared Knoespel (So., Rockton, Ill./Rockton-Hononegah) went two-for-three with three RBI, and Reed Hero (So., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) went two-for-four with three RBI.
 
"We were down 6-0 before we got out of the vans," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, "because Kyle Cibrario just didn't have his stuff today.  To his credit, he re-grouped and came back to throw a few clean innings.  That gave us time to get back in the game.  It was like a softball game after that, right up until the end.  Cam Smith and C.J. Casey both threw really well, and we put them both into tight spots.  That was a plus.  We'll take this one—we're not about pretty."
 
The trip to the Tucson Invitational concludes on Wednesday morning, March 25 with a 9 a.m., MST game, also against Oberlin College (7-8).