WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll University baseball team swept Wisconsin Lutheran College in a nonconference doubleheader at Frame Park on Monday afternoon, winning the opening game 19-8 and the finale 7-6.
Carroll, which sanpped a frustrating four-game losing streak, earned its second sweep of the season and improved to 6-5 overall.
Benton Holly went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs on the day for the Pioneers, who combined for 18 hits and five homers.
GAME 1
Justin Baker went 3-for-5 with a grand slam, four RBIs and scored three runs to power a 12-hit offensive attack in the seven-inning opening game.
The victory took on historical significance as it was the most runs generated by a Carroll team since April 25, 2018 (a 21-3 nonconference road victory over Edgewood College).
Benton Holly went 2-for-2 with two homers, four RBIs, three runs scored and two stolen bases for the Pioneers, who finished with six extra-base hits (highlighted by four homers and two doubles).
Dylan Callahan contributed a homer, a double, drove in four runs and also scored three times.
TJ Pfaffle followed with two hits with two RBIs and scored two runs with
Mitchell Massino and
Trevor Benz each driving in two runs for Carroll.
The Pioneers scored eight runs on six hits in the momentum-building bottom of the first inning, ignited by a run-scoring double to right-center field by Callahan.
Massino delivered an RBI flyout, Pfaffle contributed a run-scoring single to right field, Benz had an RBI double to right center field, Holly hit a three-run homer to right field and
Nick Angus scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Carroll extended the lead to 11-0 in the third as Holly scored as the result of an error, Pfaffle responded with an RBI single to left field and Callahan scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Wisconsin Lutheran scored its first run on a solo homer in the fourth.
Carroll answered with three runs in the fourth to increase the lead to 14-1, fueled on a solo homer to right-center field by Holly and a two-run homer to right field by Callahan.
Wisconsin Lutheran put together a seven-run rally in the fifth to trim the deficit to 14-8.
Carroll's final runs came as Baker scored on a balk in the fifth and later hit a grand slam in the sixth to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Scotty Starovich was the winning pitcher, yielding six runs on eight hits with one strikeout and no walks through four complete innings.
Starovich, who faced 21 hitters, forced six flyouts and five groundouts in the process.
Starovich faced five hitters in the fifth before being relieved by
Connor Nolen, who yielded two runs on three hits in working 1/3 of an inning.
Michael Costanzo pitched a scoreless 2 2/3 innings to pick up a save.
Tyler Wroblewski, Ryan Dominick and Cooper Pease each had two hits for Wisconsin Lutheran, which finished with 11 hits. Foster Engelhardt hit a homer.
GAME 2
Carroll showcased its resilience and character as it overcame a six-run deficit to pull out a victory in the seven-inning finale.
Trailing 6-0 heading into the bottom of the third, the Pioneers answered with their first run of the contest on a solo homer by
Alec Honickel.
Cole Haugh delivered an RBI single in the fourth to trim the deficit to 6-2, setting the stage for the Pioneers' five-run rally in the fifth.
Pfaffle delivered a run-scoring single,
Clay Schult followed with a two-run single and Holly drove in the tying and what became the winning run on a clutch two-run single.
Josh Streu pitched two shutout innings to earn a victory and
Jake Nitch picked up the save.
Dominick, Nick Poblocki and Danny Cain each had two hits for Wisconsin Lutheran.
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