Box Score - Illinois Wesleyan 15, Carthage 4

Box Score - Carthage 12, Illinois Wesleyan 4

KENOSHA, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan baseball team split a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin doubleheader with Carthage at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis. IWU won game one, 15-4, before losing 12-4 in the second game.

The Titans are now 10-10 overall and 5-2 in the league while No. 20-ranked Carthage is 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW). The teams conclude the three-game set with a 12 p.m. tilt Sunday, April 11, also at the Carthage Baseball Field.

In the opener, Illinois Wesleyan senior Casey McIntosh, who was 4-for-5 in the game, hit a solo home run in the first inning off starting pitcher Mario Perez to put IWU up, 1-0. In the bottom half, Carthage came back to take a 2-1 lead.
Ryan Hopp, who went 3-for-3, cracked a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Titans a 3-2 lead but the Red Men came back with a two-run single by Joey Aiello in the bottom of the second to take a 4-3 edge. IWU went back ahead, 5-4, in the third on RBI-singles by freshman Kevin Callahan and Hopp. The Titans bumped their lead to 11-4 with a six-run fourth inning. The Titans scored on a two-run double by McIntosh, an RBI double by catcher Mark McDermott, an RBI single by senior leftfielder Kraig Ladd, a throwing error by third baseman Josh Albers and a run-scoring single by Jeff Grodecki.

RBI singles by Grodecki and freshman Zach Scott boosted the Titans' lead to 13-4 and IWU went ahead 15-4 in the seventh on a fielder's choice run batted in by McDermott and a base-loaded walk to Grodecki.

Junior Jason Pankau improved to 5-0 as the winning pitcher, allowing the four runs on 10 hits while walking three.

Illinois Wesleyan took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two on an RBI single by Callahan. The Red Men tied the game, 1-1, in the third on an RBI-single by Joey Aiello. Carthage took a 6-1 lead in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Aiello, Will Hodges and Josh Albers, along with a two-run double by Tim Hansen. The Titans got three of those runs back in the sixth on a three-run homer by Scott to cut the lead to 6-4. Carthage took a 12-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double by Nate Hughes, an RBI-triple by Will Hodges, an RBI-single by Josh Albers and a two-run homer by Tim Hansen.

IWU senior righthander Brent Kulavic was touched for 12 runs, all earned, on 16 hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. Red Men hurler Chris Krepline (4-0) went the distance in the second game and limited Illinois Wesleyan to four unearned runs on nine hits and a walk over nine innings.