AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Alma College baseball rounded out their spring break trip in Florida on Friday, March 1st, against the University of Mount Union. The Scots won their fifth game of the trip by a final score of 12-7, and rounded out the week with a 5-2 record.
Alma got the offense going early as they were able to score a run in the bottom of the first inning. Avery Carnicom recorded the first hit of the game with a double to right center field. Colin Czajkowski then drew a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball, putting both runners in scoring position. Dalton D'Alexander was also waled as Mac Hawley stepped up to the plate. During the Hawley at bat, Carnciom came across home plate after a wild pitch and put the Scots on the board, 1-0. In the second inning, Alma added another run as Cole Grunwald led the inning off by reaching first on an error. Grunwald would ultimately end up at third after a failed pick off attempt and a ground out as Kyler Warren stepped into the batter's box. Warren doubled to left center, scoring Grunwald and put Alma up 2-0.
The Purple Raiders were able to score their first run and tighten the score up in the top of the third, bringing the score to 2-1. The Scots responded swiftly though, in the bottom of the same inning, Alma added four runs to increase their lead. Czajkowski kicked off the inning with a single to left las was followed up by D'Alexander knocking a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third. After a walk by Hawley, the bases were loaded and Kevin Tuttle looked to drive some runs in as he stepped up to the plate. Czajkowski would score on a Tuttle single. Grunwald then stayed patient at the late and as walked, scoring another run and leading to a pitching change for Mount Union. After the pause in game play, Stephen McGlade also was walked and scored another run, again keeping the bases loaded. Mitch Foley scored the final Scots run of the inning with his single through the left side and drove in Tuttle to put Alma up 6-2 through three innings. Alma tacked on another run in the fourth as the bases were loaded and Grunwald hit a sacrifice fly to left field allowing D'Alexander to tag up and reach home.
Mount Union tagged on their second run of the game in the fifth to bring the Scots lead down to five, but Alma responded in the bottom of the inning once again. Warren led the inning off with a single and stole second. A Carnicom ground out allowed for Warren to reach third before Czajkowski singled to right field and scored Warren, putting Alma now up 8-2. The Purple Raiders struck pay dirt in the sixth as they scored four unanswered runs to pull themselves within two and look to send Alma back to the Mitten State with a loss. It took the Scots an additional inning before they were able to pull away once again. In the bottom of the seventh, Alma again loaded the bases on two singles and an error. Carnicom flew out to center field on a sacrifice hit and scored McGlade while advancing the base runners. Czajkowski recorded an RBI with the next at bat as he singled to center allowing for Foley to score, putting the Scots in double digits. Alma scored their third of the inning when Hawley reached first on an error as Warren scored and put Alma up by five.
The purple Raiders scored their final run of the game in the eighth inning turning the attention towards the Scots who looked to put the game away and round out the trip with a win. Czajkowski tallied his game-high third RBI in the eighth as he drew a walk sending McGlade home and giving Alma their 12th run of the game leading to the final score, 12-7.
Tyler Johnson started the game on the bump for Alma and was awarded the win for his five innings of work. Johnson struck out eight batters while only allowing two hits and zero earned runs. Hayden Hileman and Davin Reif came in as relief on the mound and each recorded one strikeout before Czajkowski stepped on the mound in the ninth and struck out two of the three batters to close out the game. During the game, Carnicom also recorded his seventh walk of the season which puts him alone at the top of the record book for career walks with 84, adding to his impressive resume.
Alma will now travel back to the colder weather and prepare for a weekend series with the Quakers of Earlham College. The first game is set for 6:00 PM on Friday, March 8th and a double header on Saturday, starting at 12:00 PM.
