FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Alma College baseball team hit the dirt again after a Sunday off as they wrapped up their Indiana road trip with a Monday afternoon doubleheader against Franklin College. The Scots dropped both games by final scores of 13-4 and 6-5.
Game one for the day started off all Grizzlies as Franklin would follow the inning sequence with one run in the first, two in the second and three in the third, for a 6-0 lead. After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, Alma erased their zero and put some runs on the board. Charlie Chmielewski kicked off the inning with a single to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Following a ground out, Chmielewski would advance to third, 90 feet from scoring the Scots first run. Cameron Bleasdale then knocked a single up the middle to score Chmielewski, ending the scoreless drought. Bleasdale would use his speed to steal second to put himself into scoring position. Brant Goodpaster made Bleasdale's work easy scoring at home as he would triple to right field, giving Alma their second run. The Scots would be held at two through five as Goodpaster was stuck at third.
The Grizzlies added another three runs in the sixth, bringing the score to 9-2, meaning the Scots had a hefty comeback to start putting together. The Scots would chip into the deficit in the seventh as Stephen McGlade reeled in a walk. Mitch Foley then cleared a ball over the left field fence for his first of the season, doubling the Scots run total to four. Ultimately the Scots scoring would be held stagnant at four as Franklin added another four themselves to take game one 13-4.
Alex Hardacre took the mound to start the game, pitching for two and a third innings. Chase Balhoff saw action in relief for two and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts. Reese Southern also joined the action on the mound as well as Ryan Koob, who struck out three, and Blake Stone, who struck out one.
Following the opening game defeat, Alma looked to rebuttal with a win for another series split. The Scots were able to draw first blood with a pair of runs in the second. Giuseppe Sapienza led the inning off with a base hit to center field, then advancing to second on a ground out next at bat. Ryan Kracht put runners on second and third on a base hit as he would advance to second on the single down the left side. A passed ball would be enough to score the first run as Sapienza would cross from third, putting Alma up 1-0. With Kracht on third, a Foley ground out would be enough for an RBI and Alma's second run, taking a 2-0 lead.
The Grizzlies responded with two of their own in the bottom of the second, tying the game back up, 2-2. Alma looked to regain the lead in the third, as the Scots loaded the bases on a single from Goodpaster, Warren reaching on an error, and a bunt single from Alexander Kavalick. Sapienza then drove in Goodpaster with a sacrifice fly to center field, putting Alma back on top, 3-2.
A two-run home run from Franklin would take some steam out of the Scots engine in the fourth, as the Grizzlies took their first lead of the game, 4-3. Alma wouldn't back down easily though as Warren led the inning off with a single and stole second. Tony Smith then collected an RBI with a double to center field, scoring Warren and tying the game at fours. In the seventh, Alma found some momentum and Warren led the inning off by reaching first on an error and advancing a base forward on a passed ball. A ground out for the innings first out would put Warren on third, followed by Sapienza reaching first on an error by Franklin, enough to score Warren and put the Scots up 5-4. Franklin would manage to get out of the inning after two errors only allowing one run, hanging tight with the Scots. The Grizzlies shifted the momentum right back in favor of them in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer to retake the lead. The Scots would put runners in scoring position in the final two innings, but ultimately Franklin would hold on and squeak away with a 6-5 win in the second game of the day, send Alma back to Michigan with two losses on Monday.
Starting on the mound for Alma was Evan Litwiller, pitching for three and two-thirds, with four strikeouts. Josh West and Tyler Sparks came in for relief with Sparks adding three more K's.
Alma will now have several days back in Michigan before again hitting the road west to Iowa to take on Cornell College for a four-game series. First pitch of game one will take place at 6:00 PM CST on Friday, March 21st in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
