AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Alma College baseball team competed in day two at the RussMatt Invitational for a doubleheader against the University of Dubuque in the morning and Wartburg College in the afternoon. The Scots dropped the morning contest to the Spartans by a final score of 7-1 before facing off against the Knights in a game that needed 10 innings to finish. Wartburg ended up waling the Scots off in the bottom of the tenth, 8-7, handing Alma their second loss of the day.
In the morning action, the game started as a pitching duel as neither teams offense got the ball rolling early. Dubuque broke the ice in the fourth as they tacked on three runs, all unearned due to an error, to take the first lead of the game. Two more additional runs from the Spartans came about in the fifth to extend their lead to 6-0 before Alma was able to put themselves on the board. Avery Carnicom scored the Scots lone run off of a home run over the left field wall. The Spartans would score one more run in the seventh to put the Scots away for good and send Alma to game two splitting the series with Dubuque. Colin Czajkowski got the nod for the start on the mound and made work of his time. In four innings pitched, Czajkowski struck out ten batters and only allowed two hits. Ken Fistler and Ryan Koob each recorded a strikeout for the Scots in game one.
In game two, Alma got the offense clicking earlier and more often. In the first, Kyler Warren led the game off with a walk followed by Carnicom hitting a double down the right field line, putting both runners in scoring position. Czajkowski then matched Carnicom with his own double down the left field line, scoring both runners and giving Alma an early lead. Kevin Tuttle tacked on two more runs as he sent a pitch over the left field wall and gave Alma a 4-0 lead after one inning of offense. Continuing to hold the Knights scoreless, Alma added an additional run in the second as Mac Hawley reached first on a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brant Goodpaster. Hawley then reached third on a throwing error by the catcher before scoring on an Alexander Kavalick single to center field.
The Knights eventually broke through in the fourth inning, tallying two runs, closing the gap between the Scots and themselves. In the fifth, Wartburg added an additional four more runs and took their first lead of the game, heading into the afternoon Florida Heat. Both teams were held off the board in the sixth, then leading to Alma tying the game in the seventh. Dalton D'Alexander reached first on a single to center field and advanced to third on a failed pick off attempt. Tuttle would ground out to second base but D'Alexander crossed home plate and put the even with Wartburg. The Knights would not go away easily as they retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth, putting the pressure back on the Scots heading into the ninth. In the ninth, leading off with two walks from Carnicom and Stephen McGlade put Alma into scoring position early. Czajkowski would reach first on a fielder's choice as McGlade would be thrown out, though Carnicom advanced to third. Carnicom would score during the next at bat as D'Alexander also reached base on a fielder's choice. Alma tied the game in the top of the ninth and looked towards extras to split the day. Alma was held scoreless in the top of the inning, relying on their defense to help them get another chance on offense. Wartburg played spoiler to that plan after back-to-back hit batters and a single, leading to a walk off win for the Knights.
Tuttle collected three RBI to lead the Scots on offense long with Hawley going 3-5 in the box and scoring a run of his own. Zac Olesuk started the game on the mound for Alma and recorded a team-high five strikeouts in four innings on the bump. Josh West recorded two strikeouts in the game as Chase Balhoff and Blake Stone each recorded one.
Alma will return to the diamond again tomorrow, Tuesday, February 27th as they will play in another double header featuring Houghton University in the morning, and Wartburg again in the afternoon.
