JACKSON, Miss. – The Alma College baseball team continued their spring break trip on Monday, February 27th, in Jackson, Mississippi, as they took on Belhaven University in a doubleheader at Twenty Field. The Scots lost a heartbreaker in the first game 11-10, and then scored 17 runs in the second game, but was defeated by the Blazers 21-17.

In the first game of the day, Alma took an early lead thanks to a Cameron Bleasdale walk that led to a two-run homerun by Avery Carnicom, giving Alma a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Blazers were able to tie the game in the following inning. In the bottom of the second, Bleasdale took to the batter's box with bases loaded and provided some offense with a two RBI single to right field that gave Alma a two-run lead for the second time. Belhaven was able to respond with a single run in the third. After two singles by Kevin Tuttle and Carnicom to left field in the fourth, Stephen McGlade hit a sacrifice fly with the runners on the corners to send Tuttle home and regain the two-run lead.

The Blazers would not back down as they took to the offensive side of the field in the fifth and knotted the game at 5-5. In a back-and-forth game, Alma responded in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right field from Dalton D'Alexander which sent Cole Grunwald home and giving the Scots the lead again. Alma was able to keep the Blazers off the board in the sixth as they added to their led in the seventh. Tuttle singled with runners on first and second which allowed for Dalton Hall to score. Several batters later and after a walk and stolen base, the bases were loaded for pinch hitter Jacob Cornman. Cornman put the ball on the barrel as he doubled to center field and cleared the bases, giving the Scots a 10-5 lead heading into the final two innings. Belhaven scored six unanswered runs in the eighth inning and the Scots would be defeated in the first of two in heartbreaking fashion.

Freshman Zac Olesuk started the game on the mound for Alma in game one and recorded three strikeouts and three hits in three and one third innings pitched. 

Belhaven started the scoring in the second game early as they recorded four runs in the top of the first, giving them an early lead. Alma was able to respond in the second as Ethan Krafft doubled to left field and Nolan Chilcutt was able to send him home with a single to center field. The Blazers tacked on four more in the bottom of the second to increase their lead to 8-1. The Scots put another run on the board in the third with a Cornman ground out to second that was able to send Bleasdale across homeplate.

Alma used the offensive momentum in the fourth as Tuttle took to the plate with the bases loaded and connected for a double to left field which cleared the bases. After a single from Bleasdale and a hit by pitch from Carnicom, the bases were once again loaded several batters later. Cornman then sent a ball the left field line which caused the third baseman to make an error and ended up scoring two runs while Carnicom advanced to second. Later in the inning, McGlade grounded out to shortstop but was able to allow Caricom to score and the Scots closed the gap and tying the game 8-8. 

Belhaven then responded with four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 14-8 lead. The Scots scored eight runs in the sixth inning and it all started with A Bleasdale walk and singles from Carnicom and Cornman to load the bases early. Kyler Warren singled to send Bleasdale home while keeping the bases loaded. Krafft and Chilcutt then drew walks and another two runs came in for Alma. Warren would then take advantage of a wild pitch and score a run for Alma as the other baserunners advanced to second and third. Wyatt Nyswaner then drew another walk to load the bases again. Kevin Tuttle added another hot to his resume for the day as he singled to center field and another run scored for Alma. Bleasdale and Carnicom both singled to opposite sides of the field and each batted a run in. Bleasdale would score the Scots final run of the inning on a passed ball, giving Alma a 16-14 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. 

The Blazers responded with four of their own runs in the sixth to retake the lead from Alma. Belhaven then added another three runs in the eighth leaving Alma one more inning to try to come away from the doubleheader with a win. In the top of the ninth, Carnicom added another homerun to his impressive season resume with a shot over the left field wall. This was Carnicom second homerun of the day, but it was not enough as the Scots would drop the second game 21-17.

Freshman Caden Fournier led the Scots pitching staff in the second game with two strikeouts and other rookie Josh West added a strikeout for the game. 

Alma will now finish their season series with Millsaps on Tuesday, February 28th, before heading to Louisiana to play a four-game series with Centenary College (La.). The game is set to begin at 5:00 PM EST.

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Story Credit: Eli Pinter, Sports Information Intern