Carthage wins 2009 cciw baseball tournament title, earn regional bid

KENOSHA, Wis. -- Regular season champion Carthage added another achievement to its list on Saturday in a 12-3 win over Wheaton to win the 2009 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Tournament title.

With the win, the Red Men earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional. Carthage will be the top seed in the Central Regional Championship in Moline, Ill., which will be hosted by CCIW member Augustana. The Red Men will face Fontbonne on Wednesday, May 13 at Noon.

The regular season title was the first since 2006 and the tournament title was the first since 2007 for Carthage (32-6, 18-1). The tournament title was the Red Men's 10th in school history and sixth in the last eight seasons.

Carthage finished 3-0 this weekend including a 12-3 win over Augustana on Thursday, a 16-11 win over defending tournament champion Illinois Wesleyan on Friday, and the aforementioned 12-3 win over Wheaton in the championship game.

For Wheaton (23-19, 13-7), this was the Thunder's second-straight trip to the post season conference tournament and first appearance in the championship game. This was only the second tournament appearance in school history for Wheaton as they finished 2-2 this weekend including a 14-12 win over Augustana on Friday and an 8-3 win over Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday.

The entire field of tournament results can be found by clicking here.