For the third time in three days, the Alma College Baseball team traveled to Woodworth Park to take on Kalamazoo College in a MIAA showdown. In a doubleheader originally scheduled to be play in Alma, the Scots would earn a split against the Hornets, falling in game one 7-4 before earning the 6-4 victory in game two of the twinbill, handing Kalamazoo its first conference loss of the season.
Following Wednesday's action, Alma is now 12-8 overall and 3-5 in the MIAA. The Hornets are now 10-6 on the year and 7-1 in league play after the doubleheader.
Game One: Kalamazoo 7 Alma 4
Following a scoreless first, the Scots would get on the board first in game one in the second inning. Jr. IF Dayne San Miguel (Wheeler/Breckenridge) led off with a walk, before getting out at second on a fielder's choice which would land So. IF Alex Peczynski (Farmington Hills/Detroit Catholic Central) on first with two outs. Following a walk by Fr. IF Matthew Minaudo (Clinton Township/De La Salle), Fr. IF Austin Roeske (Warren/Warren De La Salle) would double to center field to bring in both Peczynski and Minaudo to put Alma up 2-0.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning, when Kalamazoo put four runs on the board to take the 4-2 lead after four.
The Hornets would tack on one more run in the fifth, extending the advantage to 5-2 heading in to the sixth inning.
Jr. C Doug Walters (Brighton/Brighton) led off the sixth with a single and would be pinch ran for by So. IF Jerome Jackson (Harper Woods/Harper Woods). Jr. OF Erick Cruz (Brooklyn, NY/Colegio Juan XX III) followed with a single to give the Scots two on with no outs. Alma would put runners on second and third after a passed ball, before Jr. OF/C Jose Corneil (Bronx, NY/Norman Thomas) hit in to a double play to score Jackson from third. With two outs and a runner on third, Peczynski would connect on a single to bring in pinch runner Jr. OF David Carles (Staten Island, NY/Petrides) from third to cut the deficit to 5-4 with just one inning remaining.
Kalamazoo would put up two more runs in the top of the seventh to extend the advantage to 7-4 with one half-inning remaining.
The Scots would record three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh, to fall in game one 7-4.
Peczynski went 2-for-3 from the plate with one run and one RBI. Roeske collected a team-high two RBI and one double.
On the mound, So. P Ed Farington (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) (0-1) got saddled with the loss after giving up four hits and two runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
Game Two: Alma 6 Kalamazoo 4
Game two remained scoreless until the Scots broke it open in the bottom of the third inning. So. OF Pat Finn (Allentown/Almont) led off the inning with a single, before So. OF Yoan Delrosa (Bronx, NY/Morris) walked to put two men on with no outs. Both runners would advance on a wild pitch, before Walters would be hit by a pitch to load the bases. Following a strikeout, back-to-back RBI singles would put Alma up 2-0 and force a Hornet pitching change. An error by the new pitcher would score Walter, Dominguez and San Miguel to extend the Alma advantage to 5-0 with only one out. Peczynski would then score off another wild pitch to the Scots up 6-0 after three innings.
Kalamazoo would chip away at the lead, scoring four unanswered in the next three innings to make the score 6-4 heading in to the final frame.
Despite the Hornets best effort, Alma would hand Kalamazoo its first MIAA loss of the season with the 6-4 win in game two.
San Miguel went 2-for-3 with a RBI, while Dominguez and Peczynski accounted for one run each.
Jr. RHP Blake Ordiway (Holly/Holly) improved to 3-0 on the year after giving up four runs (four earned) on nine hits while striking out four. So. RP Alex Valasek (Saginaw/Nouvel Catholic Central) earned his second save of the season, after allowing no runs on no hits in one inning of action.
Scots hit the road on Friday, April 2, to take on Trine University (IN) in a doubleheader set to start at 2:00 p.m.
