ADRIAN, Mich. – The Alma College baseball team returned to action after a short break in their season as they traveled to Adrian College to open up conference play. In a matchup of two of the three top teams in the conference, a lot is at stake with this series for postseason tournament play a month from now. The Scots fell behind early and did not have enough to push the game to extra innings as the Scots lost game one of three, 10-5.
Alma was able to strike first in the top of the first with just two batters as Kyler Warren reached first on an error and ended up at third by the end of the play. Kevin Tuttle scored Warren on a ground out to shortstop and put the Scots on the board early in conference play. Adrian was able to also score in the first and take their first lead of the game as walks and hit by pitches plagued the Scots on the mound early. A grand slam by the Bulldogs put them up 5-1 following the conclusion of the first inning.
Alma cut the deficit down to three in the top of the second as Dalton D'Alexander doubled to left field and was sent home off of a Charlie Martyn single to right, moving the score to 5-2. The bottom of the third saw the Bulldogs tack on two more runs off of an error and some base hits, putting the Scots down five. A single run in the fifth, seventh and eighth increased the Bulldogs lead to eight as the Scots were down to their last several outs. Alma looked for a ninth inning push to hopefully send the game to extras as Avery Carnicom led the inning off with a single. Colin Czajkowski followed up behind him with a two-run home run over to bring the Bulldogs lead down to six. D'Alexander then wore a pitch to the body and would advance to second on a wild pitch during the next at bat to place himself into scoring position. Another Martyn single, this time to center field would be enough to send D'Alexander across home plate giving Alma their fifth run of the game, but that's where it would end for the Scots as the Bulldogs were able to record the final out needed.
Czajkowski started on the mound for Alma pitching four innings and striking out five. Chase Balhoff came in for the fifth and recorded one strikeout for his one inning of relief. Ken Fistler and Alex Hardacre came in for the final three innings for the Scots. Martyn and Czajkowski both recorded two RBIs each for Alma as each went 2-4 in the batter's box for the game.
Alma will now host Adrian tomorrow, Friday, March 29th, for their home opener at Klenk Park. The Scots will host the doubleheader with games starting at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM, looking to battle out the rest of the series.
