MADISON, WISC. - The 2024 Region 4 Division II Baseball Tournament opened Thursday morning with a 5-1 win for Madison College over Kankakee Community College at Robin Roberts Field. Starter Michael Carpenter struck out seven batters to break a 35-year-old record for strikeouts in a season, and left fielder Nick Nowak came through with a catch to steal a home run from the Cavaliers and delivered the run-scoring double to give the WolfPack the lead for good in the fifth.

SINGLE-SEASON K RECORD! 🔥
With seven strikeouts in today's win over Kankakee, Michael Carpenter breaks the Madison College single season record with 103! 💯 pic.twitter.com/scYKWQIWsF

— WolfPack Baseball (@mcpackbaseball) May 16, 2024

Madison College scored the game's first run, taking advantage of a pair of early errors by KCC. Sophomore Nick Nowak began his impactful performance by reaching on an error after hitting a hard grounder to third. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jalen Gellings, and when Charlie Marion hit a slow roller toward first, Nowak was able to score on an errant throw.

Kankakee Community College (35-22-1) was able to pull even in the next half inning with back-to-back doubles off Carpenter. 

The score remained tied in the third despite a long drive by Cavaliers leadoff hitter Cole Freeman, whose potential go-ahead home run was caught above the fence by a leaping Nowak.



Two innings later, Nowak came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first after Dayton Rozinski-Hicks drew a walk. The Waukesha, Wisconsin, native lined a double down the right field line, and Rozinski-Hicks sprinted from first to home to give the WolfPack a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.



In the sixth, Marion led off with a single to right, and three batters later, second year catcher Will Johannes came through with two-out double to the wall in center that allowed Marion to score from first for a 3-1 edge.

Madison College added two more insurance runs in the eighth after two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases. An error by the KCC pitcher on a Ross ground ball scored Marion, and Jake Petasek completed the scoring with a RBI-single to left that plated Payton Frehner. 

Carpenter, a lefthander from Hartland, Wisconsin, entered the game six strikeouts shy of the school record for a season, set by Hall of Famer Brian "Butch" McKeon in 1989 with 102. He tied the record with two K's in the fifth innings, and then became the record holder with a single K in the sixth to reach 103. Carpenter (9-2) allowed an earned run on three hits and three walks over seven innings of work to earn his ninth straight victory. Sophomore righthander Eamonn Mulhern pitched the final two innings to earn his second save of the season. The former Madison East HS athlete struck out two and did not allow a hit or a run.



Marion finished 2 for 3 with a walk. The native of Franklin, Wisconsin, had a team-high two runs scored and one batted in. Rozinski-Hicks also had two hits and a walk as the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, product generated one scored run. Nowak had a hit, one run scored, and one run driven in.

Madison College improves to 3-0 this season against the Cavaliers, improving their all-time series lead to 28-19 and advantage in postseason games to 13-2. 

Up Next:

Madison College (35-11) will play a semifinal game against Rock Valley College (42-13) on Friday, May 17. The two teams did not play during the regular season due to a home-and-home series rained out in early-April. The WolfPack is 41-22 all-time against the Golden Eagles, with the 64th meeting set to be the first in postseason play. First pitch is set for noon at Robin Roberts Field. (Tournament Websites: Madison College | Region 4)

All game will be live streamed at MadisonCollege.TV, with the Madison College games available to follow live via GameChanger.



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