Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TUCSON, Ariz. – The Carleton College baseball team concluded their Spring Break trip to Arizona with an eventful doubleheader. They came up just short against Wesleyan University in a 9-8 loss, but pulled out a 10-inning victory over University of Redlands, 11-10, with a historic 7-run comeback.
 
Game 1 Recap
The men in maize and blue continued a trend of jumping out to early leads, as Sam Gossard knocked an RBI grounder to short to score Sam Zacks, and Will Schnepf launched a baseball to deep left for his second home run of the campaign in the first. Kai Oishi guided a two-strike single through the left side to score another in the second, giving the Knights (2-9) a 3-0 lead.
 
The Wesleyan Cardinals (10-2) then proceeded to score seven unanswered runs in the second and third to take a 7-3 advantage. Starting pitcher Ananth Iyer was beset with bad luck, as soft grounders and bloops found holes to stake the Cardinals their advantage.
 
Nathan Barnhart and Schnepf knocked RBI singles in the sixth and seventh respectively to cut the scoreline to 7-5, before shortstop Cole Torino punched an RBI single to center to make it 9-5. Carleton's grit showed once again, as they mounted yet another ninth-inning comeback. The Knights took advantage of some Wesleyan miscues to plate three, but the Cardinals stopped the bleeding just in time. This was the fifth game this season Carleton has lost with the tying or winning run at the plate.
 
Schnepf finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Barnhart, Zacks, and Jack Hommeyer had multi-hit games as well. Zach Gordon worked 3.0 two-run 'pen innings to keep Carleton in it, and Ryan Antrim tossed 1.0 inning of scoreless relief.
 
Game 2 Recap
The Redlands Bulldogs (12-12, 4-8 SCIAC) took six walks in the opening innings to take a 4-0 lead, and after Carleton got one back in the fourth the Bulldogs powered their way to four more with back-to-back-to-back doubles off the wall in the bottom half of the stanza. The score stood at 8-1, but the Knights were determined to make a comeback attempt stick.
 
Zacks, Gossard and Iyer reached in order to start the fifth to score one, and Schnepf banged a double off the center-field fence to tally another. Steve Antrim laced a single into left for a third and Aaron Rice executed a perfect squeeze bunt for a fourth. Redlands got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but the Knights bats continued to work.
 
Andrew Sellers laid a bunt down for a hit to lead off the sixth, and consecutive hit-by-pitches loaded the bases. Iyer then reached on an error for a run, and despite a double play another run scored. A walk put two runners on for Antrim, who slapped a ground-ball double over third base to tie the game at 9-all.
 
Sam Zacks and Redlands relievers traded zeroes for three innings, leading to Carleton's first extra-inning contest this year. Back-to-back strikeouts by grad student Patrick Perez in the 10^th put Carleton in danger of wasting the free runner placed at second in extras, but Hommeyer fired a two-out single to left to score the run, and Antrim's great game continued with an RBI double for insurance. The Bulldogs scored their automatic runner after an error, but Zacks bore down, got three straight outs, and Carleton was able to bookend their Tucson trip with wins.
 
Antrim was 4-for-6 with two doubles and four RBI, while Zacks had an excellent two-way day with three hits and 5.0 scoreless one-hit innings and the win. The comeback was one of historic proportions. The Knights have not erased a deficit bigger than seven runs (trailed 8-1) since at least 2002.
 
Up Next for the Knights:
Carleton is scheduled to open their MIAC season Saturday, March 30 at 1:00 p.m. against the College of St. Scholastica Saints at Mel Taube Field. However, the Northfield weather may necessitate a change of venue or date. Stay tuned to athletics.carleton.edu and Carleton athletics social media for updates.