BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Carroll University (13-13, 2-11 CCIW) dropped a gut wrenching 5-4 game on the road Tuesday night to Illinois Wesleyan.

Following a scoreless first frame, Carroll would get on the board in the top of the second inning.  Ethan Burns and Zach Meyer would single to start the inning and Burns would score on a Jacob Horner single to give the Pios the initial 1-0 lead.  Brady Durni would advance Meyer and Burns to second and third with a well-executed sacrifice bunt and Meyer would later score on a wild pitch to give Carroll the 2-0 lead.

The Titans of Illinois Wesleyan would respond in the bottom half of the inning.  A walk surrounded by five singles would lead to four runs in the inning to see the Pios' lead turn into a 4-2 deficit.

Carroll would chip away at the lead in the fourth inning.  Burns would again lead-off the inning with a line-drive single before advancing to second on a wild-pitch.  With two outs, Durni would single to right-center field to score Burns and cut the lead to 4-3.

In the top of the fifth inning, Matt Putman would wear a fastball of the left arm to reach base with one out and would advance to second on a fielding error. Again with two outs the Pios would get the clutch hit as Burns would collect his third hit of the game to drive home Putman and knot the score at four.

The score would remain tied until the bottom of the eighth inning.  The lead-off hitter for the Titans would be hit by the first pitch of the inning.  A sacrifice bunt would advance the runner to second with one out.  A walk and a wild pitch would put runners at second and third with just one out.  A sacrifice fly to left field would score the lead runner and give Illinois Wesleyan the 5-4 lead heading to the ninth inning.

The Pios wouldn't threaten in the ninth as they were retired 1-2-3 to close out the game.

Freshman catcher Ethan Burns would finish 3x4 at the plate with an RBI, two runs scores and a stolen base as well as throwing out a runner on the day to lead the Pioneers.

Starting pitcher Carter Howard was solid and settled in nicely after the big second inning.  Howard would work five innings, striking out a pair on the night.

Carroll will return to action Thursday as they travel to Kenosha to face Carthage College at 3pm.