BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Carroll University baseball team generated only three hits as it lost to Illinois Wesleyan University 4-0 in a cool, overcast College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Horenberger Field on Tuesday.
It was the third consecutive conference loss and completed a demanding stretch of five games in four days for Carroll, which dropped to 7-6 in the highly contested league standings and 15-16 overall.
Augustana is in sole possession of first place (11-2), North Central is second (8-5), Millikin, Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll are tied for third (7-6) and North Park is fourth (6-6) in the race for the top six spots to qualify for the upcoming CCIW Tournament.
The Pioneers, who are seeking a berth in the prestigious league tournament for the third straight year, have five conference games remaining including a home-field doubleheader versus Millikin (April 29), a single road game versus intra-state rival Carthage (April 30) and a home-field doubleheader against first-place No. 25-ranked Augustana (May 6).
Casey Mir, Benton Holly and Cole Haugh each had a single for the Pioneers, who stranded five baserunners in the contest.
Holly broke up a potential no-hitter with a one-out single to right field in the top of the seventh inning.
Carroll had a golden opportunity for a rally in the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs but fell victim to an inning-ending strikeout.
The Pioneers used four pitchers including starter Jorge Rodriguez, Erik Jaschinski, Connor Kelly and Connor Nolen.
Rodriguez, a junior right-hander from Naranjito, Puerto Rico, took the tough-luck loss despite yielding just one run on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk through four complete innings.