Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. – Both teams staged rallies Tuesday evening at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field, but it was Carthage who had the last one, as the Red Men posted a 10-7 win to prevent a series sweep by Augustana. The Vikings dropped to 26-11 on the year and 12-9 in the CCIW. Carthage is now 19-16 overall and 11-10 in the league.
 
After Augustana took a 7-6 lead with four runs in the seventh inning, the Red Men went back up with two in the eighth and added two insurance runs in the ninth. Matt Rave's RBI single tied it in the eighth and Ryan Rodgers singled in the go-ahead run. Rave added a two-run single in the ninth.
 
Carthage took a 3-0 lead off senior Zach Morgenstern (Peoria Notre Dame HS, East Peoria, Ill.) in the top of the second. After a one-out single by Zach Wade and a two-out walk to Drew Korosic, Jared Knoespel launched a three-run home run, his fourth of the year.
 
The Vikings got one back in the third. Sophomore Nick Mosele (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) led off with a single to right , moved to second on Carter Amundsen's (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) single up the middle and eventually scored on a Peter Doughty (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) sacrifice fly.
 
Jordan Wiegold's infield hit knocked in a run to make it 4-1 in the top of the fourth, but Augustana came back with two in the bottom half. After an error and a Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) single, Mosele was credited with a sacrifice fly on a ball that the Red Men muffed, scoring Cayton Wallace (Assumption HS, Rock Island, Ill.). Amundsen scored Nunez with a sac fly later in the inning to draw the hosts to within 4-3.
 
Wade's RBI double in the fifth gave Carthage a 5-3 lead and Grant Wick's RBI single in the sixth made it 6-3 and knocked out Morgenstern.
 
The Vikings took their only lead of the night with four in the bottom of the seventh. Mosele started the frame by reaching on an error and Amundsen and sophomore Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) singled to load the bases. Doughty's sacrifice fly scored Mosele and one out later, junior Matt Loeffl (Grayslake Central HS, Grayslake, Ill.) reached on another Red Men miscue that scored Amundsen and knocked out Carthage ace Kevin Tibor. Wallace greeted reliever Alex Tinkoff with a two-run single up the middle that put Augustana on top.
 
Tinkoff (1-3) got the win, while freshman Chris Refka (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) (0-3) took the loss. Nunez had three of the Vikings' 10 hits, while Wallace  and Amundsen added two apiece. Mosele scored twice and Doughty and Wallace each drove in two runs.
 
The Vikings will wrap up regular season play with a three-game series versus North Park this weekend. Augustana hosts NPU for Senior Night at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 5 and travels to Chicago for a doubleheader on Saturday, May 6. Coach Greg Wallace's club is tied for second place in the CCIW, a game behind league-leading Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans play three versus Wheaton this weekend.