ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Alma College baseball team rescheduled their weekend contests and traveled to the University of Mount Union on Saturday, March 16th, for a doubleheader. The Scots lost the first game in a close contest, 5-4, before eventually falling in the second, 14-3.
Game one started out very slow for both offenses as neither team could knock in a run for the first several innings. In a pitcher's duel from both sides, a total of three combined hits were recorded through the first four and a half innings, keeping offense at a premium. The Purple Raiders scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning off of solo home run and a two-run home run, giving Mount Union a 3-0 lead. Alma was able to score a response quickly as the Scots cut the lead down to two in the top of the sixth inning. Charlie Martyn led the inning off with a single to left field and would advance to second on a wild pitch. Martyn reached third after a fly out by Kyler Warren, putting himself 90 feet from scoring the first Scots run. Avery Carnicom then reached first on a fielder's choice and Martyn scored at home, making the score 3-1.
Alma drew nearer in the eighth inning as Warren took a pitch to the body and was awarded first base. Warren then stole second during the next at bat and eventually came around to score on a Colin Czajkowski single, bringing the score to 3-2. Alma kept the offense rolling in the top of the ninth when Dalton D'Alexander singled to left field. Kevin Tuttle stepped into the batter's box next and sent a deep fly ball over the left field wall for his second home run of the year and gave Alma their first lead of the day, 4-3. The Purple Raiders were able to respond with runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth as two batters reached base by walk or hit by pitch. Then an error led to the bases loaded for Mount Union leading to the Purple Raiders to take advantage of the situation and score two runs on a double for a walk off win to close out game one for the day.
Tyler Johnson started the day on the mound for the Scots, going six innings while striking out seven batters. Johnson allowed three earned runs and did not walk a single batter. Czajkowski came in as relief for Johnson going the final two innings, recording two strikeouts and picking up the loss for the game.
Alma looked to take the season series with Mount Union in game two for the afternoon as Alma won the first meeting in Florida just two weeks prior. The Purple Raiders scored the first runs of the game in the first inning taking a 2-0 lead early. Alma was able to cut the lead in half in the top of the third as Warren hit a solo shot over the left center wall, tallying the Scots first run of the game. Mount Union answered the Scots run in the bottom of the inning, scoring a single run to extend the lead back to two. Another solo run in the fourth and two in the fifth gave the Purple Raiders some insurance runs, pulling their lead to five at the time.
In the sixth, Alma started the inning off with two singles from Carnicom and Czajkowski before Tuttle would wear a pitch to load the bases. D'Alexander then grounded out to third but Carnicom would score, giving Alma their second run of the game. Mount Union would get the bats going in the bottom of the inning and score five more runs to start to pull away from the Scots with just nine out remaining. The top of the seventh saw the Scots final run of the day, leading off with Luke Lindsay hitting a single to left field. Tuttle then drew a walk with Carnicom stepping into the batter's box. Carnicom would single to left field and allow for Lindsay to score, bringing the score to 11-3. The Purple Raiders tagged on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth and held the Scots scoreless in the ninth to walk away with two wins on the day.
Cole Grunwald was given the nod for game two and pitched four innings, recording six strikeouts. Ken Fistler, Ryan Koob, Blake Stone and Brendan McManus came onto the mound as relief in game two and combined for two strikeouts in the loss.
Alma will now stay in the Buckeye state and close out their season with a doubleheader against the Quakers of Wilmington College on Sunday, March 17th. First pitch for the originally planned series is set for 1:00 PM.
