WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll University baseball team lost to No.-9 ranked North Central College 17-4 in a seven-inning College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Frame Park on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second consecutive loss for Carroll, which entered the intriguing battle having won three of their last four games but dropped to 4-3 in the highly contested conference standings and 11-14 overall.
North Central, which entered the day ranked within the top 10 of the d3baseball.com poll, improved its first-place league record to 7-0 and improved to 19-5 overall.
The high-powered Cardinals, who amassed 20 hits (including six extra-base hits) en route to their11th straight victory, overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three runs in the top of the second, third and fourth innings.
Brad Vosters went 2-for-3 with a double and scored two runs to help pace a six-hit offensive attack for Carroll, which finished with three extra-base hits (two doubles and a home run).
The Pioneers scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first on an RBI single to left field by Benton Holly.
Nick Angus followed with a solo home run to left field (his fourth of the season to remain tied for the team lead) in the fourth to trim the deficit to 9-2.
North Central scored three runs in the fifth to extend its lead to 12-2.
Carroll, which dropped to 5-3 at home this season, scored its final two runs in the bottom half of the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly out to right field by Holly. Vosters, who reached base on a one-out single to right field and advanced to second when Casey Mir was hit by a pitch, added the final run as the result of a throwing error.
The Pioneers utilized six pitchers in the contest including starter Drew McDermid, Andrew Stekiel, Zach Tuss, Connor Kelly, Jake Nitch and Dawson Kiphart.
McDermid, a 6-foot-3 senior right-hander from Pulaski, Wis., took the loss by allowing six earned runs on nine hits with one strikeout and no walks in pitching the first two innings.
Carroll is scheduled to face Illinois Wesleyan in a CCIW doubleheader in Bloomington, Ill. on April 15 at 2 p.m.
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