The Carthage College baseball team (14-15, 7-7 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) opened a three-game series with Elmhurst College (17-14, 6-8 CCIW) on Saturday, April 23 by splitting a doubleheader with the Bluejays at Butterfield Park in Elmhurst, Ill.  Elmhurst won the first game, 11-10, but Carthage took the nightcap by an 11-2 margin.
 
With the split, along with Wheaton College (Ill., 19-14, 7-8 CCIW) losing three games to first-place North Central College (23-5, 11-4 CCIW) this weekend, the Red Men are in fourth place in the league, a half-game ahead of Wheaton.
 
Elmhurst took a quick, 4-0 lead in the first inning of the opener on a three-run home run by Ben Havel, followed by an RBI-single by A.J. Compton.  The Bluejays tacked on another run in the third on a fielder's choice grounder to go up, 5-0.  The Red Men cut the lead to 5-4 in the seventh thanks to an Elmhurst miscue on a two-out infield grounder that should have ended the inning.  Instead, Carthage loaded the bases, and Jordan Wiegold connected on a grand slam home run.  The Red Men tied the game in the eighth on a two-out RBI-single by John Burkiewicz.   
 
Things fell apart for Carthage in the bottom in the eighth, as the Bluejays put a six-spot on the board off relief pitcher Tim Sulik to take an 11-6 lead.  Matt Wilson and Reagan McReynolds each hit two-run singles in the inning.
 
The game wasn't quite over though.  Carthage sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the ninth and scored five times to narrow the gap to 11-10.  The Red Men had the bases loaded with two outs, but Wiegold popped up to first base to end the inning and the game.
 
Nick Drago (2-1), the second-of-four Elmhurst pitchers was credited with the win, with Daryl Rivera getting the last out to earn his second save.  Luke Mentkowski started for the Red Men and allowed the first five runs on nine hits and four walks over six and two-thirds innings.  Tim Sulik worked the final inning and a third and surrendered six runs on six hits.  Matt Wilson led a 15-hit Elmhurst attack by going three-for-four with four RBI.   A.J. Kaprelian went three-for-five for the Red Men.
 
In the nightcap, Carthage jumped on Elmhurst starting pitcher Ben Havel for three runs in the first inning.  The second batter, John Burkiewicz hit a two-run homer, and Reed Hero added an RBI-single.  The Red Men added single runs in the second and third and led, 5-0.  The Bluejays cut the lead to 5-2 in the third on a two-run homer by Brandon Kressner.  A two-run homer by Wiegold in the sixth put Carthage up by five, 7-2.  Matt Rave connected on a two-run double in the eighth to make it 9-2.  The Red Men upped their lead and closed out the scoring at 11 -2 in the ninth on an RBI-double by Anthony Fortunato and fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Jared Helmich.
 
Chris DeRue (2-1) threw a complete game for the Red Men and allowed two runs on nine hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.  Ben Havel (4-2), the first-of-three Elmhurst pitchers, took the loss for the Bluejays.  Carthage collected 17 hits in the second game with Wiegold going four-for-six with four runs scored and two RBI.  Wiegold went five-for-12 on the day with five runs scored and six RBI.  Jared Helmich and Reed Hero each had three hits in the nightcap.
 
"Elmhurst beat us in the first game," said Carthage coach Augie Schmidt IV, " even though the score was probably closer than it should have been.  They outplayed us, and we didn't pitch well.  Luke Mentkowski just didn't have it today, and with a tie game, we thought it was a good idea to bring in our third starter, Tim Sulik, and he got blown up.  To their credit, they put pressure on our pitchers, and they play the game right.  We beat them in the second game, and we got a great pitching performance from Chris DeRue, who's on fire right now.  He's pitching really well.  He's had a habit of running out of gas, but he threw a complete game today, which will help us tomorrow. "
 
The two teams conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, April 24 at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wis., beginning at 1 p.m.  "I don't think winning the league is a realistic goal anymore," said Schmidt.  "We need to bear down and win anything we can win and get into the tournament.  We know from last year that anything can happen if you get in."