May 9, 2008
Contact: Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage Web Page: www.carthage.edu
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Carthage Baseball Opens CCIW Tournament with 6-5 Augustana Loss;
Red Men Play Wheaton (Ill.) in May 9 Loser’s Bracket Game
This Week: The Carthage College baseball team (32-7, 17-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked seventh in the May 6 “D3baseball.com” poll, closed out its regular-season schedule on Tuesday night, May 6, with a 6-5 non-conference loss to No. 42 Concordia University (Ill., 29-11) at the Benedictine University (Ill.) Sports Complex in Lisle, Ill. On Thursday, May 8, Carthage opened play in the CCIW Baseball Tournament with a 6-5 loss to No. 14 Augustana College (Ill., 32-9) at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. No. 12 Illinois Wesleyan (31-8) defeated No. 47 Wheaton College (Ill., 23-13), 7-5, in the other first-round contest. Illinois Wesleyan plays Augustana (Ill.) on Friday, May 9 in an 11 a.m. winner’s bracket contest, followed by Carthage versus Wheaton (Ill.) in a 2:30 p.m. loser’s bracket game. A Red Men win over the Thunder would send Carthage into a second game on Friday at 6 p.m. versus the loser the Illinois Wesleyan-Augustana (Ill.) contest.
Last Week: Carthage defeated non-conference opponent Aurora University (22-15), 6-4, on Tuesday, April 29 at Solfisburg Park’s Joe Bernard Field. Carthage opened a three-game series with CCIW-opponent and No. 12 Illinois Wesleyan University on Thursday, May 1 with a 2-1 loss to the Titans at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis. The second game of the doubleheader was suspended after nine innings with Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan in a 5-5 tie. The Titans won that game, 7-5, on Friday, May 2 to clinch the conference championship. In the final game of the series, also on May 2, the Red Men upended the Titans by an 18-8 margin. On Sunday, May 4, Carthage split a non-conference doubleheader at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Ill. The Red Men defeated the University of Chicago (9-17), 11-9, before falling to Rockford College (24-16) by a 19-3 margin.
Next Week: Carthage hopes to receive a berth in the Wednesday-Saturday, May 14-17 NCAA Division III Central Regional Championship at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field in Moline, Ill.
Jacob Husing Named Academic All-District: Carthage pitcher Jacob Husing (Sr., Iron Mountain, Mich.) was named College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN the Magazine first-team All-District 5 academic. As a first-team all-district pick, Husing advances to a national ballot for CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America honors. He is a mathematics major with a 3.69 cumulative grade-point average.
The Polls: Chapman University (35-3, 15 first-place votes) was ranked first in the May 6 “D3baseball.com” poll, followed by the State University of New York-Cortland (36-3, 4 first-place votes) second, Trinity College (Conn., 34-0, 5 first-place votes) third, Salisbury University (37-2, 1 first-place vote) fourth, Johns Hopkins University (33-5) fifth, Kean University (33-9) sixth, Carthage College (32-5) seventh, Wisconsin-Whitewater (31-6) eighth, Texas-Tyler (36-9) ninth, Wisconsin-Oshkosh (26-7) 10th, Wheaton College (Mass., 32-8) 11th, CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University (29-8) 12th, the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 27-7) 13th, CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill., 30-9) 14th and Piedmont College (33-10) ranked 15th. CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill., 23-12) was tied for 47th place. CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan (26-6, 25-2 regional record) was ranked first in May 1 NCAA Division III Central Regional poll, followed by Carthage (29-2, 23-2) second, Augustana (Ill., 26-9, 19-7) third, Wartburg College (19-12, 17-9) fourth, Rockford College (21-11, 19-6) fifth and Concordia University (Ill., 27-10, 23-9) ranked sixth.
2007 NCAA Baseball Championship: The Carthage College baseball team (37-13), ranked eighth in the May 22 American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA III poll, was eliminated from the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship on May 27 with a 5-2 loss to No. 2 the State University of New York-Cortland (42-6) at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. Carthage completed its sixth appearance at the national championship. Carthage lost to No. 6 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (34-15), 12-8, on Saturday, May 26 in a second-round game. That loss snapped Carthage’s school-record 20-game winning streak. The Red Men, the Central Regional champions, opened play in the championship on May 25 with a 15-4 win over the New England Regional-champion and No. 5 Eastern Connecticut State University (38-11). In game one on May 25, the Midwest Regional-champion and No. 6 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (33-15) shut out the South Regional-winner and No. 3 Emory University (39-9), 2-0. In game three, the West regional-champion and No. 1 Chapman University (41-6) defeated the Mideast regional-champion and No. 7 Marietta College (32-16), 8-4, and in game four, the Mid-Atlantic regional-champion and No. 4 Kean University (40-8) outlasted the New York regional-champion and No. 2 the State University of New York-Cortland (40-6), 4-1 in 12 innings. In game five on May 26, Emory (40-9) eliminated Eastern Connecticut State (38-12), 5-4. In game six, SUNY-Cortland (41-6) eliminated Marietta (32-17), 9-3. In game eight on Saturday, Kean (41-8) defeated Chapman (41-7) by a 3-1 margin. Following Sunday’s Carthage vs. SUNY-Cortland game, Emory (41-9) bounced Chapman (41-8) from the championship by a 16-9 margin, and Kean (42-8) defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point (34-16), 7-4, in the showdown between the tournament’s two remaining undefeated teams. With the win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Kean earned a day off on May 28, while the remaining three teams battle through a pair of elimination games. Emory (43-9) eliminated SUNY-Cortland (42-7), 6-3, on May 28, before pummeling and eliminating Wisconsin-Stevens Point (34-17), 18-7. Kean (42-8) edged Emory (43-10), 5-4 in 10 innings, in the May 29 championship game.
2007 NCAA Regional: Carthage defeated Augustana College (Ill., 35-14), 5-4, on May 19 to win the NCAA Division III regional championship at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. The Red Men’s win over the Vikings extended Carthage’s school-record winning streak to 19 games. Saturday’s game marked the sixth meeting this year between Carthage and Augustana (Ill.), with the Red Men winning the last five meetings. This was the first time that two CCIW teams have played each other in a regional-championship final. Carthage defeated Luther College (31-10), 6-3, on May 18 to advance to the championship round. Carthage and Luther were the tournament’s two-remaining undefeated teams. Augustana (Ill.) eliminated both Webster University (31-14), 15-7, and Luther (31-11), 6-1, on May 18. On May 17, Carthage defeated Webster, 6-4; Augustana (Ill.) eliminated Illinois Wesleyan (32-13), 6-5 in 11 innings; and Luther (31-9) eliminated Washington University (Mo., 30-11) by a 4-2 margin. In first-round action on May 16, third-seeded Carthage edged fourth-seeded Washington (Mo.), 5-4; top-seeded Luther defeated sixth-seeded Augustana (Ill.), 3-1; and fifth-seeded Webster upset second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan, 11-7.
2007 CCIW Tournament: Carthage won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Baseball Tournament on May 12 with a 5-3 win, in 10 innings, over Augustana College (Ill., 32-12) at Illinois Wesleyan’s Jack Horenberger Field in Bloomington, Ill. Carthage defeated Illinois Wesleyan University, 10-3, on May 11 in a second-round game. In the second game on May 11, Augustana College (Ill.) eliminated Elmhurst College (16-22), 16-14, and then Augustana (Ill.) eliminated Illinois Wesleyan (32-11), 7-2, in the final game. Carthage opened tournament play on May 10 with a 12-4 win over Augustana College (Ill.), while Illinois Wesleyan roughed up Elmhurst College, 11-0.
Carthage in the NCAA Championship: The Red Men made their 14th NCAA regional appearance in 2007 and their sixth at the national championship. Last year, Carthage went 1-2 at the Central Regional championship at Washington University (Mo.) in St. Louis, Mo. Carthage did not qualify for the championship in 2005 after reaching the regional finals in both 2003 and 2004. In 2004, the Red Men lost to Aurora, 21-4, in the championship game at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill. In 2003, Carthage lost to Emory University, 14-4, in the title game at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. The Red Men’s last regional title came in 2002 at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Ill. Carthage subsequently went 0-2 at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in Grand Chute, Wis., losing to Christopher Newport University, 12-4, and falling to the College of New Jersey by a 15-5 margin. The Red Men finished third at the national championship in both 1993 and 1994 and fourth in both 1995 and 1997.
NCAA Championship Field Increased in 2006: The field for the 2006 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship was increased from 42 teams in 2005 to 53 teams in 2006 to reflect a change in the NCAA championship-access ratio. With that increase, the regional championships are composed of five seven-team brackets and three six-team brackets.
The Conference: Now in its 62nd year as of 2008, the CCIW has sponsored baseball since the league was first organized in 1947. Since then, Illinois Wesleyan University has won a league-leading 22 championships or co-championships, followed by Carthage with 13 titles, North Central College with nine, Millikin University with eight, Elmhurst College with seven, North Park University with four, Augustana College (Ill.) with three, Lake Forest College two and Wheaton College (Ill.) one title. Carthage won its first baseball championship in 1966 and won a co-championship with Illinois Wesleyan in 1970. The Redmen won outright titles in 1971, 1972 and 2006, shared the 1973 championship with North Central, won conference tournaments in 1992, 1993 and 1995, and won the 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 titles on a point-system basis. The league coaches, with four first-place votes, picked Carthage to win the 2008 title, followed by Illinois Wesleyan second with three first-place votes, Augustana (Ill.) third with one first-place vote, Elmhurst fourth, Wheaton (Ill.) fifth, North Central sixth, North Central seventh and Millikin eighth. The top-four teams, by CCIW winning percentage, qualify for the CCIW Baseball Tournament. The winner of the double-elimination tournament receives the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
CCIW Players of the Week: Brian Kolb (So., Carlsbad, Calif./Sante Fe-Christian) from Wheaton College (Ill.) was named CCIW “Baseball Hitter of the Week” on May 6 for the second-straight week, while Illinois Wesleyan University’s Brent Kulavic (So., Springfield, Ill./Pleasant Plains) earned “pitcher of the week” honors for the second time this season. Kolb, who also earned “hitter of the week” honors on April 29, batted .667 (14-for-21) with seven runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and four stolen bases. Kulavic, who also earned “pitcher of the week” honors on April 8, struck out eight batters and allowed just two hits, as the IWU defeated Carthage College, 2-1, on May 1 in the opening game of a three-game series won by the Titans to secure the CCIW championship.
CCIW Leaders: Carthage first baseman Jason Acevado (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills/Bradley University) is second in CCIW batting (.470 thru May 4), first in home runs (12), first in RBI (60), first in total bases (131), tied for second in triples (5), ranked third in base hits (70), fourth in doubles (15) and tied for fourth runs scored (48). Third baseman Steve Herzau (So., Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove), who has not played since April 26, is fourth in batting (.423). Centerfielder Boe Baitinger (Sr., Appleton, Wis./East/Chaffey College) is fifth in batting (.414) and first in stolen bases (28-of-33). Catcher Mike Hughes (Jr., Round Lake, Ill.) in ninth in batting (.396) and tied for fourth in home runs (8). Pitcher Jacob Husing (Sr., Iron Mountain, Mich.) is fourth in earned run average (3.46) and tied for second in strikeouts (57). Trace Ruffie (So., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) is fifth in earned run average (3.86) and fourth in strikeouts (50). Mario Perez (Fr., Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) is eighth in earned run average (4.20). As a team, Carthage is third in batting average (.342) and first in earned run average (4.34).
NCAA Leaders: Carthage first baseman Jason Acevado (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills/Bradley University) is ranked 13th among NCAA Division III batting leaders (.470 thru May 4), fifth in slugging percentage (.879), sixth in total bases (131), tied for 12th in RBI (60), tied for 17th in home runs (12), ranked 19th in on-base percentage (.554), tied for 21st in base hits (70). As a team, Carthage is ranked 15th in home runs (46) and 19th in slugging percentage (.531).
The Coach: A proven winner with Carthage in his blood, Augie Schmidt IV has a 659-260-5 record in 20 seasons as head baseball coach (thru May 8). Schmidt continues the winning tradition of his father, Augie Schmidt III, who won 276 games and five College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships in 18 years at Carthage. In the second Schmidt era, Carthage has claimed seven outright CCIW divisional titles, one divisional-title tie, eight conference crowns, 14 NCAA regional berths, including nine-straight from 1992 to 2000, third-place finishes in both the 1993 and 1994 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships and fourth place in both 1995 and 1997. For his efforts, Schmidt has been named American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond Sports NCAA Division III Central Regional "Coach Of The Year" eight times (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003 and 2007), won the ABCA/Louisville Slugger Conference Award seven times from 1993-99, and has been named CCIW "Baseball Coach of the Year" on nine occasions (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2007). Cory Everts is the assistant coach, with Tom Kucharski and Adam Smith serving as part-time assistant coaches and Johnny Meier as a graduate assistant coach.
2008 NCAA Regionals: The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has selected all eight sites for the 2008 regional championships. CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) will play host to the May 14-17 Central Regional Championship at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field in Moline, Ill. The East Coast Athletic Conference will play host to the New England Regional at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass.; Ithaca College to the New York Regional at Falcon Field in Auburn, N.Y; Kean University to the Mid-Atlantic Regional at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark, N.J.; the USA South Atlantic Conference and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to South Regional at the American Legion Post 325 Stadium in Danville, Va.; the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to the Mideast Regional at its own Art Nehf Field; Wisconsin-Oshkosh to the Midwest Regional at E.J. Schneider Field in Oshkosh, Wis.; and McMurry University to the West Regional at its own Walt Driggers Field. The field for the 54-team championship will be announced on Monday, May 12.
May 1 Illinois Wesleyan Notes: In the first game, Illinois Wesleyan opened the game with three-straight singles to load the bases, and clean-up hitter Kraig Ladd delivered a single to right to score a run for a 1-0 lead. Carthage starting pitcher Jacob Husing escaped further damage by retiring the next three batters, two on strikeouts. The Red Men tied the game in the second when Mike Hughes reached on an error by Titan third baseman Tim Marzec. Will Hodges followed with a single to right that was misplayed by IWU right fielder Mike Morrissey, allowing Hughes to score. Illinois Wesleyan broke the tie in the sixth inning when Kevin Goshorn led off with a solo home run. That was all the support that IWU pitcher Brent Kulavic (6-0) needed. Kulavic allowed just one unearned run on two hits and two walks, while striking out eight batters. Husing (6-1) took his first loss of the year by giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks, and he also struck out eight. Carthage centerfielder Boe Baitinger returned to the lineup after missing two weeks with a fractured wrist. Baitinger was injured in the April 15 Elmhurst College game.
Quoting Coach Augie Schmidt IV on the May 1 Illinois Wesleyan Twinbill: “We got out-executed today. The first game was a great baseball contest with two very good pitchers going at it. They came up with the clutch home run. We had our opportunities, but we didn’t get it done. We’re disappointed. We had a lot of times where we just needed to get a bunt down and couldn’t do it. In the second game, we were down 5-1 to an All-American pitcher in Matt Aronson, and we fought our way back. We’ve done that all year. We still had opportunities to win the second game before it got called, but we still couldn’t get a bunt down. It’s two good teams, it was a lot of fun today, but we wish we could have executed a little better. Boe Baitinger was rusty today, that’s for sure, but we’re really happy to have him back on the field. Just having him back is a boost. Tomorrow is an extra-inning game, and we just have to find a way to scrounge this one up and then go get another one.”
May 2 Illinois Wesleyan Notes: Illinois Wesleyan broke a scoreless tie in the third when Casey McIntosh singled in a run with two outs. The Titans bumped their lead to 3-0 in the fourth on RBI-singles by Mike Cunningham, Ricky Angel and Kraig Ladd, the latter two with two outs. Carthage loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Albers singled, but the Red Men only got a one run out of it after David Hermes was thrown out rounding third. IWU capitalized with a solo home run by Kevin Goshorn to lead off the fifth to make it 5-1. Tony Rdzok’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth brought Carthage back to 5-3, and Jason Acevado’s run-scoring single in the seventh whittled the lead to 5-4. Boe Baitinger almost scored the tying run in the seventh on a wild pitch, but he was thrown out on the attempt. The Red Men tied the contest, 5-5, in the eighth when Mike Hughes homered on Matt Aronson’s first offering of the inning. In Carthage’s ninth, Boe Baitinger led off with a single. After failed attempt to bunt him over, Baitinger stole second. Jason Acevado and Mike Hughes both struck out swinging to end the inning. At that point, the game was suspended at 5:55 p.m. on account of darkness. Play resumed on Friday, May 2 at 2:38 p.m. Illinois Wesleyan broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the 10th. The Titans put two runners on with one out, and Mike Cunningham delivered an RBI-single off Corey Richardson for a 6-5 lead. Tim McInerney then drove in another run with an infield grounder for a 7-5 margin. Trace Ruffie started for Carthage and worked the first six innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits and two walks. Corey Richardson (3-2) took over in the seventh. Matt Aronson worked the first seven innings and gave up five runs on nine hits and three walks, while striking out eight. Sean McCreary (1-1) relieved Aronson in the eighth inning, and Geoff Page pitched the 10th. The Red Men’s Ty Heegeman doubled with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but Page struck out pinch-hitter Chris Shannon to end the game and earn his first save of the year. Richardson allowed two runs on three hits and two walks over the final four innings. In the final game of the series on Friday, May 2, Carthage took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Boe Baitinger singled, advanced to second on a grounder, stole third and scored on a single by Jason Acevado. Ty Heegeman and Will Hodges both drove in runs with infield grounders, and Josh Albers hit an RBI-double. The Red Men made it 9-0 in the second. Baitinger singled, stole second and scored on a single by Tony Rdzok. Carthage then loaded the bases with two outs, and Josh Albers launched a grand-slam home run. The Titans scored a run in the third in a solo homer by Tim McInerney. Carthage made it a 14-1 game in the bottom of third on an RBI-single by Mike Hughes, a two-run double by Heegeman, an RBI-single by David Hermes and a throwing error by Titan third baseman Tim Marzec. IWU’s Tim Huppert hit a solo home run in the fourth to make it 14-2. The Titans made it a 14-6 game with a four-run fifth inning, and the Red Men scored a pair of runs in the bottom half for a 16-6 margin. IWU scored twice in the sixth to make it 16-8. Carthage answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth for a 17-8 margin and a final run in the eighth for an 18-8 victory. The nine-inning game was called due to a 10-run rule. Josh Albers went three-for-three with a double, a home run and four RBI. Jason Acevado and Mike Hughes each had three hits, while Ty Heegeman drove in three runs. Boe Baitinger went two-for-five and stole three bases to up his season total to 26, just three short of Mike Pavlik’s 1983 season record of 29 swipes. The Red Men collected 21 hits in the final game of the series. Mario Perez improved his record to 6-0. He allowed eight runs over six innings, only two earned, on eight hits and three walks. Mike Maher worked the final two inning. The loss went to Jesse Foster (6-2), the first of five Titan hurlers.
Quoting Coach Augie Schmidt IV on the May 2 Illinois Wesleyan Games: “The loss in the suspended game is on me. I did a bad job coaching in that game. That was my fault. It’s hard to explain, but I made some bad decisions. We hit the ball in the second game and knocked their pitchers around, so that was nice. We are still not playing clean baseball. We made a lot of errors, and we have to get better. Hopefully, we still have some gas in the tank.”
May 4 Chicago/Rockford Doubleheader Notes: In the Chicago game, Carthage took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning. Boe Baitinger was hit by a pitch and stole second for his 27th swipe of the year. Tony Rdzok walked, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Jason Acevado’s sacrifice fly scored Baitinger, with Rdzok moving up, and Rdzok scored on an infield grounder off the bat of Mike Hughes. Chicago batted around in the second inning off starting pitcher Tim Keyes. Travis Blane hit a two-run home run, and Mike Serio singled in a run to give the Maroons a 3-2 lead. Carthage batted around and scored four times in the bottom half to take a 6-3 lead. A double by David Hermes scored Josh Albers from first, and Mark Sobol’s single scored Hermes. Joe Ferro singled, Tony Rdzok walked, and Acevado’s pop single to short right field scored both runners. The Maroons tied the game, 6-6, in the third, scoring three runs on two infield grounders and a wild pitch. The Red Men re-gained the lead, 9-6, in the fourth on a two-run homer by Acevado, his 12th of the year and a run-scoring double play. Chicago cut the lead to 9-8 in the fifth on a bases-loaded infield grounder off the bat of Kevin Holzbog and a bases-loaded RBI-single by Scott Hofer. The Maroons tied the contest, 9-9, in the seventh on a bases-loaded single by Hofer. Carthage took the lead to stay, 11-9, in the eighth on a two-run homer by David Hermes. Danny Davies relieved Tim Keyes in the third. Davies gave way to Corey Richardson in the fifth. Mike Maher (5-1) entered the game in the top of the eighth and was credited with the win. Acevado went two-for-three with five RBI. Hermes went three-for-four with three RBI. Boe Baitinger stole two bases, his 27th and 28th of the year, leaving him one shy of tying Mike Pavlik’s 1983 school record of 29. Tony Rdzok walked four times and scored three runs. The four free passes tied a Carthage game record, which was last accomplished by Patrick Brown versus Illinois Wesleyan University on April 7, 2001. In the Rockford game, Carthage took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly by Acevado and a solo home run by Mike Hughes. Rockford came right back with three runs in the bottom half. Nate Henke hit a bases-loaded single to short to score the first run, and Brandon Smith followed with a two-run single. The Regents scored six runs in the second on one hit, two costly errors and six walks to take a 9-2 lead. Rockford scored the first two runs on three walks, two wild pitches and a throwing error from Red Men starter Dan Dahm. Dahm (0-1) gave way to Kevin Buswell with one out in the second. Buswell loaded the bases and walked Ron Wiest to force in a run. The next batter, Derek Truninger, hit a comebacker the mound that Buswell threw away at first, allowing two runs to score for an 8-2 lead. Shaun Dascher followed with an infield single to drive in the sixth run of the inning. Rockford went up, 10-2, in the third. David Hermes dropped a fly ball, allowing Chris Brockman to reach second, and Brockman scored on a single by Tyler Magnuson. Buswell walked the next batter before giving way to Buster Landreman. Landreman walked his first batter to load the bases and then gave up a two-run single to Brandon Smith for a 12-2 deficit. Rockford re-loaded the bases, and Tyler Clay walked to make it 13-2. Nate Henke’s two-run homer in the fourth made it 15-2. The Regents tacked on four more runs in the sixth off Bryan Kieffer for a 19-2 margin. The four Carthage pitchers combined for 14 bases on balls and four wild pitches. The Red Men scored a run in the seventh when the nine-inning game was halted due to a 10-run rule.
Quoting Coach Augie Schmidt IV on the May 4 Chicago/Rockford Doubleheader: “There weren’t a whole lot of positives today. We went with a lot of young pitchers, and it didn’t turn out too well. I don’t have a clue how many walks and hit batters we had. I just know Rockford had 19 runs on like nine hits, and that’s never a good thing. Our pitchers were a little shell-shocked. These guys are not experience, but we have to save some arms for the conference tournament. When things started to go bad in the Rockford game, everything fell apart. Hopefully, these pitchers will learn that it’s not as easy as it looks when a guy like Jacob Husing is pitching. Games like this happen in baseball. What’s important is how you come back from them. We had a little bit of a mean look in our eyes at the end of the day, so I hope we’ll come back and play some better baseball. We need to get back into the Carthage way of doing things.”
May 6 Concordia (Ill.) Notes: Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tony Rdzok hit his fifth triple of the year and scored on an infield grounder off the bat of Jason Acevado. Concordia (Ill.) took a 3-1 lead in the bottom half. The Red Men cut the lead to 3-2 in the second on an RBI-single by Joe Ferro. The Cougars made it 4-2 in the third and 5-2 in the fifth. Carthage scored a run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Acevado and Mike McGuire. The Red Men tied the game, 5-5, in the ninth. Boe Baitinger was hit by a pitch to open the frame. Rdzok reached base on an infield grounder, with Baitinger landing at third on an error by Cougars second baseman Wade Arthur. Acevado was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Mike Hughes followed with a two-run single. In the Concordia ninth, leadoff hitter Scott Stephens reached base on a throwing error by Carthage shortstop Seth Romano, the fifth Red Men error of the night. Bobby Truckenbrod singled and advanced to second when Stephens was cut down trying to advance to third. The next batter, Zach Bickel, singled through the left side of the infield to score Truckenbrod with the winning run. Pitcher Andy Henning started for Carthage and worked into the fifth inning. Corey Richardson entered the game with one out in the fifth and pitched into the eighth before giving way to Bryan Kieffer (3-
May 8 CCIW Tournament Notes: In the Carthage loss, Augustana took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an infield single off the bat of Don Hansen. Carthage took a 3-1 lead in the bottom half. Boe Baitinger led off with a single, stole second and scored on a double to dead center by Jason Acevado. Mike Hughes followed with a two-run home run. Baitinger’s stolen base tied a Carthage season record of 29 set by Mike Pavlik in 1983. The Red Men went up, 5-1, in the second on an a fielder’s choice RBI by Tony Rdzok that scored Josh Albers from third. Tony Gragnani scored from second on the play when Vikings first baseman Eric Izzo was unable to come up with the ball. The Vikings cut the lead to 5-2 in the fourth. Carthage pitcher Jacob Husing worked the first eight innings and allowed two runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out 11 batters. Augustana scored four times in the ninth to take a 6-5 lead. The Vikings loaded the bases on off reliever Corey Richardson (3-3), with leadoff hitter, Marc Blakely reaching base on a strikeout/wild pitch followed by two singles. John Wagle delivered a two-run single to cut the lead to 5-4. Myles Kurnick drove in the tying run on a fielder’s choice grounder. Wagle then scored the lead run on the front end of a double steal.
Quoting Coach Augie Schmidt IV on the May 8 Loss to Augustana (Ill.) at the CCIW Tournament: “All we needed in the ninth was three outs, and we had the first guy struck out. Then we had tailor-made double play, and we kicked it away. We’ve been kicking it away all year—this didn’t just start tonight. We’ve always weaseled our way out of it. You know this is going to come back and haunt you. You can’t keep winning playing defense as bad as we do.”
Injury Report: Carthage centerfielder Boe Baitinger (Sr., Appleton, Wis./East/Chaffey College, .440, 22-of-26 stolen bases) returned to action in the May 1 Illinois Wesleyan game after missing just two weeks with a broken wrist suffered in the April 15 Elmhurst game. Baitinger suffered the injury making the final out of the Elmhurst third inning on a diving catch. He underwent surgery on April 17 and had permanent pins placed in his left wrist…starting pitcher Chris Krepline (Sr., Brillion, Wis./Reedsville, 4-0, 2.77 earned run average) will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. He last pitched on April 5 at Millikin University…third baseman Steve Herzau (So., Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) injured his wrist against Augustana College (Ill.) on April 26 and has not played since.
The Record Book: Boe Baitinger Sr., Appleton, Wis./East/Chaffey College) stole two bases, his 27th and 28th of the year, in the May 4 University of Chicago game, leaving him one shy of tying Mike Pavlik’s 1983 school record of 29. Baitinger is only six behind a career mark of 87 set by Jack Richarz between 1992 and 1995…Tony Rdzok walked four times and scored three runs. The four free passes tied a Carthage game record, which was last accomplished by Patrick Brown versus Illinois Wesleyan University on April 7, 2001…with five wild pitches in the May 4 Rockford College game, Carthage tied a game record set against Augustana College (Ill.) on April 29, 2001. Danny Davies (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis.) had four of those five wild pitches and broke a Carthage game record of three set by Cory Kleeba in the April 2001 Augustana (Ill.) game and matched by Jason Wiertel against Wheaton College (Ill.) on April 20, 2001.