ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Carthage College Red Men completed a three-game sweep of the Griffins on Sunday, topping Fontbonne University, 10-9.
 
The win moves the Red Men to 10-2 on the season, while three straight losses sends the Griffins to 8-9.  The ten wins in the first twelve games marks the fastest for Carthage to the mark since 2008 when Carthage opened the year 24-0.
 
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Red Men responded with five runs in the second to take their first lead of the game thanks in large part to four errors by the Griffins in the inning.  Ryan Kramer started things for the Red Men with two on, delivering a two-run double to left to score Vince Schwartz and Ryan Dalton.  Myles Farley and Clayton Taylor each reached on errors that drove in runs, and Cody Phelps drove in Colton Klein on an RBI sacrifice fly.
 
Clayton Taylor delivered again in the fourth with his first home run of the season, blasting a two-run shot to left field to score Klein again.  Taylor then drove Klein in again in the sixth to put the Red Men up 8-5 on an RBI single to left.  Clayton finished 2-5 on the day with a game-high and career-high three RBIs.
 
Leading 8-6 in the seventh, the Red Men were gifted another run off the bat of Myles Farley as the Griffins' fifth error of the game allowed Schwartz to score.
 
The sixth error of the game by Fontbonne proved to be the difference, as Ryan Kramer reached on a throwing error by the shortstop that allowed him to go to second and then scored when the next hitter, Farley, knocked an RBI single to center.
 
Fontbonne made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of runs but David Woods slammed the door with a two-out save.
 
Chris Pedrak picked up the win in relief, as the senior pitched the seventh and eighth innings. Pedrack allowed one run on three hits  over the span and struck out three to preserve the Red Men's lead.  Matt Willett got the strart and went four innings allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits and struck out three.
 
David Woods replaced Brian Polanski in the ninth to get his second save of the season in as many attempts.
 
The Red Men finished with ten runs on ten hits and a pair of errors, while the Griffins scored nine runs on 14 hits but committed six errors.
 
Next up for Carthage, the Red Men will have their 2018 home opener on Saturday, March 24^th at Augie Schmidt Field.  The Red Men will host a triangular that will feature Defiance College and Marian University.  Carthage will start the day with Defiance at noon and complete the day with Marian at 6:00 p.m.