TUCSON, Ariz. – The Carleton College baseball team was unable to hold onto to an early lead and suffered a 15-5 (7 inn.) setback at the hands of Valley City State. Aaron Rice (So./Evergreen, Colo./Colorado Academy) led the Knights' offense by going 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Ananth Iyer (So./Redmond, Wash./Overlake) chipped in a double and a triple.
 
Carleton (1-5) opened the scoring in the top of the first after Luke Mager (Sr./Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley) walked with one out and scored on Iyer's double.
 
Valley City (5-15) answered by scoring seven times in the bottom of the frame. The Vikings sent 12 men to the plate, including a grand slam by designated hitter Dustin Mertz, who added a two-run dinger in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 9-1.
 
After VCSU added an unearned run in the fifth, Carleton scored twice in the top of the sixth. Iyer tripled to center field, and Rice followed with a run-scoring single to left. The sophomore centerfielder later raced home on Jack Hommeyer's (So./Bronxville, N.Y./Suffield Academy) RBI groundout.
 
Rice capped the scoring for Carleton with a two-run double in the top of the seventh, bringing the Knights within 10-5, but VCSU scored five times in the bottom of the inning and ended the game via the 10-run rule.
 
Carleton relievers Ben Jeweler (Sr./Seattle, Wash./Garfield) and Ryan Chang (Fy./Alameda, Calif./The College Preparatory School) combined for nine strikeouts during their 5.2 innings on the bump.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton faces Caltech at 1:30 p.m. MST on Monday, March 20.