KENOSHA, Wis. - The Elmhurst University baseball team battled valiantly but couldn't overcome an early deficit, falling to Carthage 10–6 on a brisk afternoon at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Bluejays gave up seven runs in the first two innings and, despite a steady push throughout the middle frames, never fully recovered. Carthage's offense clicked early and often, while their bullpen held off an Elmhurst rally to secure the win. With the victory, Carthage improved to 21–7 on the season, while Elmhurst dropped to 8–21. Will Modory earned the win for the Firebirds, improving to 4–0, while
Joseph Ingratta took the loss for Elmhurst, falling to 0–4.
Tommy Wichgers led the Elmhurst offense with a 2-for-2 day, scoring twice, driving in one, and drawing two walks. Rock Smith added an RBI triple, while Evan Johnson and Javier Cervantes each recorded an RBI as well. Adan Nieves contributed with a double and a run scored, and Erik Malott reached base three times and came around to score. On the mound, Carson Gnade and Logan Leach combined for five solid innings in relief, allowing just two runs on two hits to stabilize the game after a rough start.
Elmhurst struck first in the top of the first, with Rock Smith delivering an RBI triple to right-center to bring home Tommy Wichgers for a 1–0 lead. Carthage responded forcefully in their half of the inning, plating four runs on RBI singles by M. Felber and D. Knecht to take a commanding 4–1 lead. The Firebirds piled on in the second, adding three more runs on hits from P. Moser, Z. Tubbs, and Knecht, pushing the lead to 7–1.
After a scoreless third, Carthage tacked on another run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly by Knecht, extending the advantage to 8–1. Elmhurst chipped away in the fifth when Malott scored on a wild pitch and Wichgers followed with a sac fly to bring in Nieves, narrowing the margin to 8–3. The Bluejays added another run in the sixth on a single up the middle from Cervantes that scored Johnson, making it 8–4.
Elmhurst kept the pressure on in the seventh, loading the bases and scoring a run on a walk by Johnson. Wichgers came home on a double play ball to cut the lead to 8–6. However, Carthage quickly responded in their half of the seventh as C. Duarte launched a solo homer to left. They added an insurance run in the eighth on M. Cairo's RBI double to make it 10–6. The Firebird bullpen held Elmhurst scoreless in the final two frames to close out the win.
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