After spending 10 hours at the field, the Carthage College baseball team (11-11, 4-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) wound up losing both ends of a key doubleheader to CCIW-opponent Illinois Wesleyan University (13-10, 6-2 CCIW), 11-7 and 14-10, at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage opened the three-game series on Saturday, April 9 with a 3-0 shutout of the Titans. 
 
With the two wins on Sunday, Illinois Wesleyan moved into first place by a full game over both Augustana College (Ill., 16-9, 5-3) and Wheaton College (Ill., 16-9, 5-3), with the Red Men slipping into fifth place.
 
In Sunday's opener, which got underway after a two-hour and 15-minute rain delay, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Reed Hero doubled and scored from second on a Matt Rave single and an outfield error.  The Red Men proceeded to load the bases, but a first base-to-catcher-to-first base double play ended the inning. 
 
Carthage scored three times in the third to take a 4-0 lead.  Hero doubled in two runs, and a double by Rave scored Hero.  A leadoff home run by Jordan Wiegold in the sixth made it a 5-0 game. 
 
Carthage  pitcher Chris DeRue, who had pitched brilliantly, left the game with one out in the seventh after loading the bases with one out, and was replaced by Luke Mentkowski.  Mentkowski's first batter, Gino Cavalieri, hit an RBI-single that opened a nine-run Titan rally on just five hits.  Mike Plecki followed with a two-run-single, Jarro Juskiewicz a bases-loaded walk, a two-run single by Tim Smyk, a two-run double by Brian Johnson and an RBI-single by Ben Manski, as IWU sent 13 battters to the plate and took a 9-5 lead.
 
A sacrifice fly by Jared Helmich in the eighth cut the lead to 9-6, but Illinois Wesleyan scored two in the top of the ninth to take an 11-6 lead.  Matt Rave hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to close out the scoring at 11-7.
 
Gino Cavalieri led the Titans' 11-hit attack by going four-for-six with two RBI.  Matt Rave had four hits in five trips for the Red Men with two RBI.  Sean Coonan (2-1) was the winning pitcher for Illinois Wesleyan and allowed five runs on 11 hits over six innings.  Brian Henry worked the final inning and two-thirds to pick up his second save.  Chris DeRue allowed three runs on five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts over six and one-third innings  The loss went to Luke Mentkowski (1-3), who surrendered six runs on five hits and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning.
 
Carthage took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning of the nightcap on a two-run single by Reed Hero.  Illinois Wesleyan knotted the score in the second on a two-run homer by Ben Manski. The Red Men took a 4-2 lead in the second and a 6-2 in the third.  Another two-run blast by Manski in the fourth cut the lead to 6-4, but a three-run homer by Carthage's Jordan Wiegold in the fifth made it 9-4 Red Men.
 
Carthage pitcher Tim Sulik worked into the sixth inning but left the game after loading the bases with one out.  Once again, the Red Men's bullpen turned out be their undoing, as Tim Pedrak allowed five runs, three of those charged to Sulik, giving IWU a 9-9 tie.  Gino Cavalieri hit a three-run double, John Bosco an RBI-double and Jarrod Juskiewicz an RBI-single.
 
The Titans broke the tie with a four-run fourth inning to take a 13-9 lead.  A Zach Wade fielding error at third base led to the go-ahead run in the seventh, and Jacob Houghton later connected on a three-run homer.  Carthage got a run back in the eighth to make it 13-10, but IWU scored in the top of the ninth to take a four-run lead, 14-10, and that was the final score.
 
The Titans collected 14 hits in the second game, with Tim Smyk going for four-for-four,  Ben Manski went three-for-five with three runs scored, two home runs and four RBI.  Gino Cavalieri went three-for-six with three RBI to cap a 10-for-16 weekend with four doubles and five RBI.
 
Ben Rashid (1-1), the sixth-of-seven Titan hurdlers, picked up the win, with Chris Pedrak (0-1) taking the loss. Pedrak surrendered six runs on six hits in one and two-thirds innings.
 
"It's the same old story," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV.  "We pound people early and give it up late.  It's getting old, even though there were some bright spots with the starting pitching.  It huts to lose these games late.  We were in total control in both games, and then one bad thing leads to another.  We're just not tough enough to overcome that right now.  We'll figure it out, but we have to hurry up and do it.  For most of the day, I thought we were the better team." 
 
Carthage travels to Carol Stream, Ill., on Wednesday, April 13 to play conference-opponent Wheaton College (Ill.) in a 6 p.m. game at Legion Field.  "Now we have to go after Wheaton on Wednesday." said Schmidt, "and find a way to win a series against Augustana next weekend, especially since we didn't win this one.  I still like this group, but we're not finishing games."