After opening with four-straight losses at the Tucson Invitational, the Carthage College baseball team (4-5, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) won its third in a row on Wednesday, March 23 by breezing to a 15-3 decision over Colby College (2-5) at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
Carthage took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-single by
Jared Knoespel, a run-scoring triple by
Reed Hero and another RBI-single by
Matt Rave. The Red Men made it a 7-0 game in the second on a two-run single by
Jared Helmich and a two-run double by Hero. Carthage sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven times in the third to go up 14-0.
Alex Letto hit a two-run homer,
Zach Wade a two-run single and
Jordan Wiegold a two-run double in the inning. The Red Men scored a single run the fourth to make it a 15-0 contest.
Carthage's
Luke Mentkowski (1-1) started and won the game. Mentkowski gave up a game-opening single to Matt Treveloni and didn't allow another hit until Tyler Mulberry singled with two outs in the fifth. Mentkowski did run into some trouble in the sixth, as the Mules scored three times on five hits, but the Red Men still led, 15-3. The game was halted after Colby failed to score in the seventh due to a 10-run rule. Mentkowski gave up three runs on eight hits and no walks over seven innings.
Max Manos (0-1) was the losing pitcher, and surrendered the first 14 runs on 14 hits and four walks over three innings. "
Luke Mentkowski pitched a great game today," said Carthage coach
Augie Schmidt IV. "He had his thumb on Colby all day, even if it was overshadowed by our hitting. He had a rough patch in the sixth inning that wasn't entirely his fault, but he threw really well."
The Red Men collected 17 hits, with
Reed Hero leading the way with three hits in four trips and four RBI. Hero is batting .516 thru the first nine games with two triples and 11 RBI.
Matt Rave went three-for-four with two RBI and
Jordan Wiegold two-for-three with a pair of RBI. Carthage has pounded out 54 hits in its last three games. "We hit the ball well again today, and that's nice to see," said Schmidt. "Overall, it was a good effort, and we played well defensively. Those are the things we're looking to do, and we'll try and keep it rolling again tomorrow."
Carthage plays a split doubleheader on Thursday, March 24, taking on No. 23 Buena Vista University (7-3) at 1:30 p.m. (all times MST) and Bethel University (Minn., 7-5) at 5 p.m.
Jared Helmich and
Chris DeRue are scheduled to pitch. "We have two tough games on Thursday," said Schmidt, "and it'll be a long day, but we're in better shape than we were three days ago."
