CHICAGO, Ill. – The Carthage College Red Men equaled their 2017 win total on Tuesday afternoon, winning a pair of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin contests over North Park University at the Holmgren Athletic Complex, 5-4 and 11-9.
The pair of wins improve the Red Men to 20-4, 7-1 in conference and is Carthage's ninth win in their last ten games. North Park falls 10-13 and 5-3 in the league with the two losses.
"It was a good day for us," said
Augie Schmidt IV after the Tuesday sweep. "We are a little short pitching during this stretch and pitched a lot of different people that turned in good performances. Today was
Brian Polaski's day. He got us a win and a save, threw at least two innings in each game and really came up big. We came in and it was two 5-1 teams entering the day, so we are just happy to get the two W's and move on."
Game 1: Carthage 5, North Park 3
After a scoreless first three innings,
Nick Pierce got the Red Men on the board with a home run to center to give the Red Men a 1-0 lead in the fourth. After North Park tied it in the home half of the fifth, the Red Men quickly answered with a pair of back-to-back triples by
Vince Schwartz and
Ryan Dalton to put the Red Men up 3-1.
In the seventh, the Vikings took advantage of a number of walks to tie the game once again at 3-3 before
Brian Polaski entered the game in relief for Carthage. Polaski worked 2.1 innings allowing no runs on just two hits to earn his second win of the season and to move to 2-0.
In the eighth,
Joe Sisk delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit, as the DH reached the deep left center power alley for his team-leading fourth triple of the season, scoring Pierce and Dalton.
Ian Maxeiner threw six strong innings, allowing one earned run on six hits in a no decision.
Game 2: Carthage 11, North Park 9
The Red Men used some late-inning magic to comeback in game-two to complete the sweep of the Vikings on Tuesday.
After falling behind 3-0 in the first, the Red Men battled to tie it in the top of the third as
Cody Phelps drove a ball to center that was dropped, allowing two runs to score. Next, Pierce grounded out to score
Ryan Kramer and tie it at 3-3.
North Park responded with three more in the bottom of the inning, once again putting the Red Men in a three-run hole and added a run in the sixth to make it a 7-3 deficit.
The Carthage bats then came alive in the seventh. Carthage scored six runs on seven hits in the top half of the inning to take a 9-7 lead.
Myles Farley opened the scoring in the inning with a two-run home run with
Joe Sisk on to cut the Vikings lead to 7-5, and two batters later
Colton Klein homered to get the Red Men to within one at 7-6. After a
Cody Phelps double and Pierce walk,
Vince Schwartz singled up the middle to drive in Phelps, tying the game at 7-7. Carthage batted around in the inning and in Sisk's second at bat, the senior laced a single through the right side to drive in Pierce and Schwartz. Phelps and Pierce added insurance runs on extra base hits in the eighth, giving Carthage an 11-7 lead.
The runs would prove to be huge for Carthage, as North Park scored a pair in the ninth before Brian Polaksi shut the door for his sixth save of the season.
Frankie Rios picked up the win for the Red Men, working 1.1 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
Joe Sisk led the Red Men at the dish, hitting .500 on the day, going 4-8 with a triple and four RBI's. Klein and Schwartz also turned in four hits each and crossed the plate twice, while Pierce and
Ryan Dalton had three hit apiece, with Pierce driving in three.
The Red Men will return to action on Friday for the first of three games against Wheaton College. Carthage will open with one game at Wheaton at 6:00 p.m. before coming home to Augie Schmidt Field for a doubleheader against the Thunder on Saturday. First pitch on Saturday is set for noon.
