WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll University baseball team swept North Park University in a College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin doubleheader at Frame Park on Saturday afternoon, winning the opener 7-6 and the second game 19-15.
The critical back-to-back home-field victories snapped a frustrating three-game losing streak for Carroll, which improved to 7-6 in the highly contested conference standings and 14-17 overall.
The statement-making twin-bill sweep took on added significance as it moved the Pioneers into a tie for fourth place in the race to claim one of the top six spots in the upcoming league tournament. North Central currently sits atop the league (11-2) followed by second-place Wheaton (7-5), third-place Augustana (6-5), fourth-place Carroll and Millikin (7-6), sixth-place Illinois Wesleyan (6-6), seventh-place North Park (4-7), eighth-place Elmhurst (3-8) and ninth-place Carthage (3-9).
In the key two-game series, the Pioneers outscored North Park by a 26-21 margin, combining to generate 19 hits in the process.
The 19 runs scored in the finale was a single-game season-high for Carroll, which improved to 7-3 at Frame Park and eclipsed its previous season-best run total of 16 established in a victory over University of Wisconsin-Platteville on March 17 (16-10).
Benton Holly finished a combined 4-for-8 with three home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored to lead the high octane Pioneers. Holly currently has a .303 batting average with a team-leading eight homers and 31 RBIs.
Mason Hege went a combined 3-for-6 with two home runs, four runs scored and finished with a jaw-dropping single-game season-high eight RBIs for the Pioneers.

GAME 1
Trailing 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Carroll answered the pressure-packed challenge by scoring two runs on two hits to complete a dramatic comeback.
Holly, a 6-foot-1 senior third baseman from Mundelein, Ill., tied the game on a lead-off solo home run, sending the 1-2 pitch over the center-field fence. 
Thomas Ward then followed by belting a first-pitch game-winning, walk-off solo shot to right field to complete the emotional rally.
It was the first official collegiate home run for Ward, a 6-1, 210-pound sophomore first baseman from Waukesha, Wis.
The Pioneers have won three games by a one-run margin this season.
Holly went 2-for-4 with a homer to help power an eight-hit offensive attack for Carroll, which finished with four extra-base hits (including two homers and two doubles). Josh Kolb went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in a run.
The Pioneers collected the first run of the contest in the bottom of the second as Hege scored from third as the result of a bases-loaded walk.
North Park responded with two runs in the top of the third to claim a 2-1 lead.
Carroll tied the game 2-2 in the fifth as Casey Mir delivered an RBI ground-rule double to left-center field.
North Park answered with a two-run homer in the sixth to regain the lead.
Carroll trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in its half of the sixth as Nick Angus scored on a bases-loaded walk.
North Park extended its lead on a two-run homer in the eighth.
Carroll answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to 6-5, including an RBI double to left-center field by Kolb and one-out run-scoring single to right field by Brad Vosters, setting the stage for the dramatic ninth-inning finish.
The Pioneers utilized four pitchers in the showdown including starter Brett Buzzelli, Connor Kelly, Dawson Kiphart and Jake Nitch.
Buzzelli, a sophomore right-hander from Homer Glen, Ill., pitched seven strong innings allowing four earned runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and three walks. He threw 102 pitches in facing 27 batters, forcing six ground outs and six fly outs.
Nitch, a 6-foot senior right-hander from Gurnee, Ill. who earned his first victory of the season to improve his individual record to 1-2 overall, worked a scoreless ninth and showcased his composure by working out of a tense situation after giving up back-to-back two-out singles. With runners at first and third, he picked off the lead runner at third to retire the side.

GAME 2
Hege, a 6-3 205-pound sophomore first baseman from McHenry, Ill., went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a triple, eight RBIs and three runs scored to power an 11-hit offensive attack in the finale.
Holly went 2-for-4 with two homers, three RBIs and four runs scored for Carroll, which finished with five extra-base hits (including four homers and one triple). 
Ward followed with two hits and two RBIs with Lane Scott adding two hits and three runs scored.
Carroll scored five runs on two hits in the momentum-building bottom of the first, ignited on a two-run single to right field by Ward and a three-run triple to right field by Hege.
North Park, which dropped to 3-7 in conference and 10-19 overall, scored three runs in both the top of the second and third to claim a 6-5 lead.
Carroll responded with a four-run rally in the bottom of the third as Angus scored on a bases-loaded walk, Hege scored as the result of a hit batsmen with the bases-loaded and Mir delivered a two-run single to left field.
North Park scored five unanswered runs in the fifth, tying the game on a three-run inside-the-park homer, taking a one-run lead on an RBI single and extending the lead to 11-9 as the result of an error.
Carroll answered with three runs in the sixth to regain a 12-11 lead as Holly scored as the result of a bases-loaded hit batsman, Scott scored on a bases-loaded walk and Angus scored on a wild pitch.
 North Park, which finished with 17 hits, scored two runs in the seventh to claim a 13-12 lead.
Carroll scored four runs in its half of the seventh, powered on a two-run homer to left-center field by Holly and what proved to be a game-winning two-run homer to center field by Hege (the first official homer of his collegiate career with the Pioneers) to extend the lead to 16-13.
North Park added two runs in the eighth to trim the deficit to 16-15 but couldn't get any closer.
Carroll added its final runs in its half of the eighth on a solo homer to left-center field by Holly and a two-run blast to left-center by Hege.
Carroll used six pitchers in the battle including starter Ben Ellifson, Nick Evert, Zach Tuss, Andrew Stekiel, Dawson Kiphart and Connor Nolen.
Stekiel, a 6-1 senior right-hander from Brookfield, Wis. earned a victory to improve to 2-1 overall. Connor Nolen, a sophomore right-hander from Poplar Grove, Ill., picked up his third save of the season. 
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