ADRIAN, Mich. – The Alma College baseball team riding high off of a 2-0 win to open up the MIAA baseball tournament, returned to the yard on Thursday, May 8th, hoping for a spot in the MIAA Tournament Championship game. The Scots were defeated in their early game of the day against the Kalamazoo College Hornets in the winner's bracket game, followed by a loss in a consolation game against the top seed host Adrian College Bulldogs, closing out their season with a 23-20 record.
Alma dropped their opening game of the day, facing off against the Hornets in a game where the winner advanced to the MIAA Championship game after both teams won their opening round games. The Scots had a quick turnaround after defeating Calvin University in the night game before, on the back of Tyler Johnson who had a career outing, striking out 19 to help advance the Scots along in the tournament. Kalamazoo came out ready to play, scoring a solo run in the first inning, followed by another solo run in the second, allowing the Scots to stay within striking distance with a lot of game still to play. Alma struggled at the plate only managing two hits in the game, making it hard for them to make a comeback even though the Hornets were pulling away early. The fifth inning saw Kalamazoo open up the scoring, tallying nine unanswered runs to bring their lead to 11, as time was dwindling for the Scots. Alma would get a base runner to second in the bottom of the fifth, but Kalamazoo would quiet the threat and Alma would not reach scoring position for the rest of the game.
Cameron Bleasdale started on the bump for the Scots, going for one and a third of an inning with one strikeout. Tyler Sparks, Cade Sutherland and Alex Hardacre all saw action in relief for game one with Hardacre picking up the other Scots strikeout.
Transitioning to the nightcap, in a "winner moves on" game, the Scots faced off against the top seed Bulldogs, as both teams eyed down a spot in the championship series.
Adrian broke the ice in the second inning, scoring on a groundout with runners on second and third, as Alma was able to limit the damage to just one. Alma was able to threaten the Bulldogs throughout the game, though Adrian was able to escape every jam that came about, keeping Alma off the board. The seventh saw the Bulldogs drive in another two runs on a couple singles, pushing their lead to three as the Scots had nine outs remaining offensively.
Sutherland was given the nod for game two on the day after only pitching a handful of pitches in the earlier game. Sutherland pitched for two innings collecting one strikeout before Evan Litwiller came in as his replacement. Litwiller went for two and two-thirds grabbing two strikeouts and only allowed one hit. Ryan Koob saw action for 1.1 innings, striking out three during his time, also allowing only one hit. Ken Fistler, who was just named All-MIAA Second Team earlier in the day, saw action on the mound for two innings, striking out one and Josh West closed out the action on the mound, also striking out one.
Alma also gained three other All-MIAA honorees on the day as Johnson was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career, the first pitcher in program history to win the award twice. Cameron Bleasdale and freshman Giuseppe Sapienza were also named to the All-MIAA Second Team, both fir the first time in their careers.
The Scots will now turn their attention to the 2026 season and wishes the best for the senior class that has brought them so many lifelong memories wearing the maroon and cream on the diamond.
