ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College baseball team welcomed the Britons of Albion College to Klenk Park on Saturday, April 13th, for a MIAA conference doubleheader. The Scots battled all game one and were able to pull out a 1-0 victory in 10 innings before winning another game in walk-off fashion as they came behind in game two to win 13-12, taking the first two games of the series.
Game one proved to be a pitcher duel for a majority of the game as both starter's went at least six innings and allowed six total hits combined. Tyler Johnson was able to strikeout out five Britons batters in his seven innings of work to keep the Scots tied. Albion's ace made it very difficult for the Alma offense to gain any momentum, ultimately needing extra's to find the winner of game one. After Hayden Hileman was able to get out of the top of the tenth still scoreless, Alma now had a chance to hopefully seal the deal. Alexander Kavalick started the inning off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Charlie Martyn then singled to shortstop to push Kavalick to third, only 90 feet away from winning the game. Kevin Tuttle would be the ultimate hero with a single also to shortstop which allowed for Kavalick to cross home plate and give Alma a walk-off win in game one.
Game two was the opposite of game one as runs were scored often. Albion kicked off the scoring in the first inning scoring four and adding an additional three in the second to take a 7-0 lead. Alma cut the lead down to four in the bottom of the second as the Scots scored the first run on an error and their second on a Tony Smith single that was able to score Charlie Martyn who reached by a walk. With the bases loaded, Avery Carnicom was then struck by a pitch to score the Scots third run, bringing the score to 7-3. The Britons tacked on two more in the third before the Scots were able to answer back in the bottom of the inning. Kyler Warren would lead the inning off with a triple to center field and score during the next at bat with a single from Kavalick. Taha Ebrahim and Martyn then were hit by pitches to reach base, loading the bases. A couple batters later, Tuttle would be walked scoring another run for Alma, before Smith then singled to left field for two RBIs, bringing Alma within two.
The Scots added another run in the fourth to pull within one as Warren tripled to center field again and scored on a sacrifice fly from Kavalick. Albion doubled their lead in the top of the fifth scoring a run on a sacrifice fly, turning the attention back on the Alma offense. Mitch Foley led the bottom of the inning off with a double to left field and advance to third on a ground out. Carnicom sent Foley across home plate with a single, again bringing the Scots within one. The Britons would score their final two runs of the game in the top of the sixth and seventh, outing Alma down by three with three outs remaining. Martyn led the inning off with a double to center field which was then followed by a Tuttle walk. Smith was able to put the ball in play and collect two RBI with a double to bring Alma within one, with one out. Carnicom's bat was able to tie the game with a single that scored Smith with some aggressive base running, knotting the game at 12's. Czajkowski also singled followed by a Warren walk to load the bases. Taha Ebrahim stepped into the batter's box and battled at the plate, staying alive before popping the ball up around second base. The Britons shortstop was unable to field the pop up and Alma was able to run across home plate for their second walk-off win of the day.
Cole Grunwald started the game on the mound for the Scots before relievers Chase Balhoff, Brenden McManus and Ken Fistler came in. Fistler was credited with the win while also recording two strikeouts in the game for three innings pitched.
Alma will now close out the series with Albion tomorrow, Sunday, April 14th at Albion College. Start time for the rescheduled game is at 1:00 PM.
