TUCSON, Ariz. – Shortstop
Steve Antrim (Jr./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) went 3-for-3 with a home run and
AJ Staff (Sr./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) collected eight strikeouts over 6.2 strong innings as the Carleton College baseball team picked up its first win of the year, a 6-5 triumph over Carthage College.
Antrim gave Carleton (1-5) the early lead with a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning, his second long ball of the young season. Carthage (5-8) scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth, but Antrim's RBI single knotted the score at 2-2 in the sixth inning.
The Firebirds regained the lead after a leadoff triple and sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Staff notched his eighth strikeout of the afternoon, then gave way to
Ananth Iyer (So./Redmond, Wash./Overlake), who pitched the final 2.1 frames and ended up earning his first collegiate victory when the Knights scored twice in the seventh and two more times in the eighth.
The seventh-inning rally started with back-to-back singles by
Aaron Rice (So./Evergreen, Colo./Colorado Academy) and
Sam Gossard (Fy./Wilmette, Ill./New Trier). They both scored when
Sam Zacks (So./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) later delivered a two-out double to right field.
In the eighth, Antrim walked to begin the frame and scored on
Jack Hommeyer's (So./Bronxville, N.Y./Suffield Academy) double to left field. Iyer followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Hommeyer scored what proved to be a critical run via a passed ball.
Carthage solved Iyer for a pair of runs in the ninth, but the sophomore closed the door to earn head coach Alec Holcomb his first victory at the helm of the program. Staff was solved for three runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk during his 6.2 frames on the hill. Iyer surrendered two runs but fanned three over his 2.1 innings of work.
Antrim finished a double shy of the cycle and raised his batting average to a team-best .467. Rice went 2-for-4 in registering his first multi-hit game of the season.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton squares off against Valley City State on Sunday, March 19. First pitch is slated for 10:00 a.m. MST.