WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll University baseball team defeated intra-state rival Carthage College 7-4 in a College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Frame Park on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the seventh home-field victory of the season for Carroll, which remained tied for first place (with Millikin) in the highly contested conference standings with a 6-1 record and improved to 13-10 overall.
The Pioneers, who have advanced to the prestigious CCIW Tournament the last two years, have won nine of their last 12 games and continued to build on their best conference start in program history.
Carroll scored five runs on two hits in what became a decisive bottom of the second inning, powered on a two-run home run by Benton Holly and three-run homer by Casey Mir.
From an historical perspective Holly's two-run blast took on added significance as he became Carroll's all-time leader in home runs with 23.
The Pioneers extended the lead to 6-1 in the third on a run-scoring groundout by Holly.
Carthage, which finished with six hits, scored three unanswered runs on three hits in the fifth to trim the deficit to 6-4.
Carroll generated five hits in the showdown and added a run in the seventh on an RBI sacrifice flyout to left field by Mir.
The Pioneers utilized four pitchers in the contest including starter Nolan Fehrman, Erik Jaschinski, Connor Kelly and Connor Kelly.
Fehrman, a 6-foot-3 junior right-hander from Slinger, Wis., earned a victory by allowing three earned runs on five hits with one strikeout and two walks through five complete innings.
Fehrman, who improved to 3-1 overall, finished with 83 pitches in facing 23 batters, forcing seven groundouts and seven flyouts in the process.
Jaschinski, Kelly and Nolen provided strong relief over the course of the final four innings, combining to yield just one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.
Nolen, a 6-3 junior right-hander from Poplar Grove, Ill., earned his team-best fourth save of the season.
With runners on first and second and no outs in the top of the ninth, the Carroll defense took the spotlight and responded with a statement-making doubleplay to thwart a potential rally.
On the key sequence, Carroll freshman center fielder Joey Appino caught a flyball and immediately fired a strong throw to pickoff the lead runner attempting to advance to third.
Nolen followed by forcing a game-ending, victory-clinching groundout.