Alma, Mich. - The Alma College baseball team swept Hope College in a double header this afternoon (Mar. 29) on their home field at Klenk Park. Alma won the first seven inning game, 6-1 and the second nine inning game, 7-3.

Alma's overall record improved to 12-3 on the season and are now 3-1 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). Hope's overall record fell to 6-9 and an MIAA of 1-3.

Game One:

Hope College got on the board first in the top of the third but Alma was relentless closing out the top of the inning and then answering in the bottom when senior Dayne San Miguel (Wheeler, Mich./Breckenridge) hit a solo home run to left field. 

Neither team scored in the fourth inning and the Scots allowed only one hit in the top of the fifth to strand Hope's runner. Alma crossed the plate three times in the bottom of the fifth on four hits and two Hope errors. With one out on the board senior Yoan De La Rosa (Bronx, N.Y./Morris) singled then rounded second on a pitching error. San Miguel followed being hit by a pitch then sophomore Austin Roeske (Warren, Mich./De La Salle Collegiate) hit a sacrifice fly to score De La Rosa. In back to back batters, junior Alex Peczynski (Farmington Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) had an RBI single to score San Miguel and junior Greg Goffee (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) knocked an RBI double to put the Scots up 4-0 through four innings.

Alma brought down the first three batters in the top of the sixth inning then added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to give them the comfortable 6-1 lead over the Dutchmen. In the inning the Scots had two runs on two hits with one Hope error.

The Scots walked away from the first game with the 6-1 victory over the Dutchmen. San Miguel led the squad with two RBI's and Roeske notched two stolen bases in the game. Senior Matt Launstein (Flushing, Mich./Flushing) was on the mound for the Scots, pitching a complete game, allowing only five hits one run and striking out two batters. 

Game Two:

Alma was the first on the board in game two of the day, taking the quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Lead off batter, senior David Carles (Staten Island, N.Y./Petrides) was hit by a pitch and then stole second. Two outs were on the board but with a runner in scoring position, junior Patrick Finn (Allenton, Mich./Almont) hit an RBI single for the 1-0 lead. 

The Scots stranded two Dutchmen runners in the top of the second and notched another run when San Miguel doubled to left center, stole third base then advanced home on a wild pitch. Alma had the 2-0 lead after the two innings.

Hope tied the game up 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning with only one out but the Scots turned a double play to retire the top of the fifth. Goffee was the lead off batter in the bottom of the fifth, knocking a single to center field. Junior Matthew Minaudo (Clinton Township, Mich./De La Salle Collegiate) hit a sacrifice bunt moving Goffee to second, who proceeded to steal third. Senior Doug Walters (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) hit a sacrifice fly to score Goffee and give Alma the 3-2 lead through five innings.

Alma pushed their lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Hope outfielding error to score Roeske, who had previously hit a single with two outs already on the board.

The Scots remained relentless crossing the plate three more times in the bottom of the eighth inning. De La Rosa notched an RBI double and Carles added an RBI single on the only two hits of the inning. Alma would win the second game, 7-3.

Senior Colin Nash (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) got the win in the second game pitching 5.2 innings. He allowed four hits striking out two improving his record to 2-0 on the season. 

Alma's next four game series will be against the Britons of Albion College. Alma will travel to Albion, Mich. for the first double header on Saturday (Apr. 2) with a 1:00 p.m. scheduled first pitch. The following day (Apr. 3) the Scots will then welcome the Britons to Klenk Park with a game time of 1:00 p.m. 

QUOTE:

Head Coach Jake Sabol

on the two wins today...

"Anytime you are playing in conference you have a quality opponent team and they have been the top of the standings the last couple years and then they come to your house so we were ready to play. All around we played really good defense and I thought that brought the energy right away and i think the guys fed in to that. We went in to game two and we did some good things, put pressure on them both games. Overall, the guys did a good job of getting on base and playing good baseball."

on the 3-1 series...

"It's big, anytime you win a series, thats huge. You're trying to fight in the standings & it's important but we have another series coming up and its early on in the season. We have been in good positions before and now we just have to figure out how to maintain those positions the rest of the year."