WAUKESHA, Wis. - Benton Holly went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs as the Carroll University baseball team defeated Augustana College 7-2 in a cloudy, cold College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin showdown at Frame Park on Friday evening.
It was the conference opener for Carroll, which has won two of its last three games and improved to 8-11 overall.
The statement-making performance took on added significance as it was the Pioneers' first victory in the CCIW opener since re-joining the prestigious league.
Augustana, which entered the contest riding the momentum of an eight-game nonconference winning streak and hovering just outside of the D3baseball top 25, dropped to 14-4 overall.
Carroll collected four unanswered runs on four hits in what became a momentum-building, decisive bottom of the third inning as Josh Kolb and Nick Angus each scored on passed balls followed by a clutch two-run single to center field by Justin Baker.
Augustana responded with a single run in the top of the sixth to trim the deficit to 4-1.
Carroll put the game out of reach with three runs on two hits in the seventh, highlighted by a two-out three-run homer by Holly.
Holly, the team's durable 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior third baseman from Mundelein, Ill. who was hitting in the No. 5 spot of the lineup, blasted the 0-2 pitch over the right field fence.
It was the second homer of the season for Holly, who currently has a .262 batting average with 16 hits and 17 RBIs in starting all 19 games for the Pioneers.
Augustana managed a single run in the eighth but couldn't get any closer.
Bennet Becker went 2-for-4 and scored a run to help power an eight-hit offensive attack for Carroll, which committed just one error in the intriguing matchup of long-time conference rivals. Mitchell Massino had a double with Kolb, Baker and Casey Mir each adding a hit.
Ben Ellifson was the winning pitcher for the Pioneers, responding with a standout individual performance en route to his second victory of the season.
Ellifson, a 5-foot-11 senior right-hander from Oak Creek, Wis., worked 7 2/3 innings in the pressure-packed CCIW outing (including five scoreless innings) yielding two earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks. He faced 32 batters and threw 112 pitches, forcing 10 fly outs and eight ground outs in the process.
Ellifson, 2-0 overall, had a no-hitter working through five innings before giving up a lead-off single in the sixth.
Connor Nolen finished out the game by pitching an unblemished final 1 1/3 innings with no hits, three strikeouts and one walk.
Nolen, a 6-3 sophomore right-hander from Poplar Grove, Ill., finished the game with three consecutive strikeouts to put an exclamation point on the victory.
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)