WAUKESHA, Wis. - Mitchell Massino went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs as the Carroll University baseball team lost to traditional league powerhouse Augustana College 9-7 in a hard-fought College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Frame Park on Tuesday afternoon.
It was the second consecutive home-field conference loss for Carroll, which dropped to 2-5 in the league standings and 8-7 overall.
Augustana, which won its sixth straight to remain undefeated on the road and improve to 6-2 in conference and 14-2 overall, entered the contest hovering just out of the D3baseball.com top 25.
The high-powered Vikings came into the day tied with Millikin for second place in the league standings.
Carroll collected the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on a clutch, two-out RBI triple to left-center field by Massino.
Alec Honickel scored on the play after reaching on a single and advancing to second base as the result of a passed ball.
Augustana responded with two runs in the top of the second.
TJ Pfaffle, who has a team-leading .462 batting average this season, hit a solo home run (his first of the season) in the third as Carroll tied the game 2-2.
Augustana scored seven runs on three hits and took advantage of three errors in what proved to be a decisive fourth.
Benton Holly followed with a solo blast (his team co-leading fifth of the season) in the fifth for the Pioneers, who came into the contest as the CCIW's top-ranked offensive team with a .313 batting average.
The Pioneers answered with a gritty four-run rally in the seventh to trim the deficit, highlighted by one-out RBI singles by Pfaffle and Honickel and a two-out two-run double by Massino.
Despite a lead-off walk in the ninth, Carroll's bid for a dramatic comeback fell short with three straight fly outs to end the game.
Pfaffle went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Pioneers, who finished with 11 hits (including two homers, two triples and two doubles). Honickel and Justin Baker each added two hits.
Kyle Wise and Chase Maifield each finished with two hits and three RBIs for Augustana, which had eight hits. Senior right-hander Sam Cregan was the winning pitcher, yielding seven runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk through 6 1/3 innings.
Junior right-hander Drew McDermid took the loss for Carroll, allowing eight runs on five hits with a strikeout and four walks through 3 2/3 innings. 
Bryce Spaulding, Dawson Kiphart, Josh Nitch, Tyler Love and Jake Nitch combined to allow one run on three hits the rest of the way.
Stay up to date on Carroll baseball by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics).