MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Carroll University (2-0, 0-0 CCIW) kicked off the 2018 season with a double header sweep of UW-Superior (0-3, 0-0 UMAC) at US Bank Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Game one saw the Pioneers take the early lead in the bottom of the first inning.  Lead-off hitter Jake Langford doubled to the left-center gap and would later score on a wild pitch to give the Pios the 1-0 lead.

Lefty starting pitcher Carter Howard (1-0) would dominate in his first start of the season.  The senior would work five nearly perfect innings and face the minimum 12 batters.  The only hit surrendered was an infield single to the lead-off hitter in the top of the first inning, who would later be doubled off on a caught line-drive.

Offensively, Langford would lead-off the bottom of the fifth inning with his second double of the day.  Ryan Hetherington would sacrifice Langford to third and AJ Johnson would send him home on an RBI ground-out to give Carroll the 2-0 lead.

Superior would get on the board in the seventh and final inning.  A one-out triple followed by a walk and run scoring single would cut the lead to 2-1 with runners and first and second.  Cam Godinsky would record the strike out and induce a routine flyball to right field to squelch the rally.  Godinsky worked the final three innings to earn the save and lock down the first win of the 2018 season.

Game two started fast for the Pioneers.  In the top of the first inning, junior Matt Putman would reach on a fielder's choice, steal second and after a walk to AJ Johnson, would come around to score on Hunter Frey's RBI single to left field.  Sophomore Nolan Heck would then walk to load the bases and Alex Kermendy would follow with the third walk of the inning to plate another run and give Carroll the 2-0 lead.

Superior would answer with a run in the bottom of the first as Cory Albertson would record his second triple of the day before scoring on a single up the middle to cut the Pio lead to 2-1.

Carroll would score three more in the top of the third, Frey would reach to lead off the inning and score on a line-drive sacrifice fly off the bat of Kermendy for the first run. Freshman Ethan Burns, making his collegiate debut would connect on a second hard line-drive sacrifice fly to plate Heck for the second run and Jake Langford would the cap the inning with a hard hit single to chase Zach Meyer home to give the Pioneers the 5-1 lead.

The Yellowjackets would tally single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to get UW-Superior back into the game at 5-3, but that's all they would manage to scratch across against Carroll. Lefty starter Andrew Stone would work four solid innings striking out seven without issuing a walk.

The Pioneers would put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth inning. Frey would walk with one out and Heck would double to right field to put runners at second and third.  Meyer would then walk to load the bases and sophomore Dylan Callahan would take a 3-2 pitch deep over the left-center fence to clear the bases and stretch the Pio lead to 9-3.

Junior Logan Johnson would work the final three innings on the mound sealing the Pioneer victory as he would strike out four.

Coach Stein Rear was pleased with the opening games, "On the day we got tremendous outings from all four of our guys on the mound.  Howard, Godinsky, Stone and Johnson all started the season strong.  Defensively we made all the plays and controlled the running game.  Offensively, we left a ton of runners on base in game one and early in game two, but we started to turn the corner later in game two."

Up next, Carroll University will travel to Tucson, Arizona next week for their spring trip from March 15^th until the 21^st.  The Pioneers will play eight varsity games and six reserve games in the seven day stretch.