ANDERSON, Ind. – Braving the chilly temperatures and returning to the diamond, the Alma College baseball team opened a three-game series with the Anderson University Ravens on Friday, February 20th, with a single game. The Scots fell behind early, but an eighth inning rally proved to be enough for the Scots to remain unblemished and taking game one 15-9.
Anderson put the games first runs on the board in the bottom of the first, knocking in four to take an early lead and put the Scots in their first deficit of the season. Alma responded in the top of the second with a run batted in by Cameron Bleasdale as Kyler Warren and Braylon Ryan reached bases on a walk and a double, which placed Warren on third and ultimately scoring. Alma cut the lead in half in the top of the third as Alma placed runners on second and third as Sutherland reached first on a fielder's choice that led to an error to advance to second while Kavalick singled beforehand and was advanced to third in the error. Warren then scored Kavalick with the next at bat as an error by the Ravens defense let Warren reach first and allowed for Kavalick to sneak home.
The Ravens added some extra runs for the first time since the opening inning with a three-run home run and an additional two-run home run to bring the Scots deficit to 9-2. Not backing down, Alma looked to respond right away, at it came off the bat of Charlie Martyn. Bleasdale led the fourth off with a double to right, followed by a blast from Martyn over the right field wall, adding two tallies to the Scots total, bringing life back into the Scots bats quick. The next at bat brought another blast, this time coming from Justin Diaz, homering for the second time this season in the freshman's career. The Scots were not finished tho as two batters later, Giuseppe Sapienza picked up where he left off last season and also sent a ball over the left field wall, scoring Alma's sixth run of the game and putting the Scots within striking distance again.
Alma collected a solo run in the sixth as Kavalick drove in Martyn with a double to bring Alma within two with a lot of game still left. The eighth is where the Scots would explode with runs and put the Ravens in their first deficit of the game. Kavalick continued his hot batting, this time with a three-run home run over the right field wall, putting the Scots up one with one out. Cade Sutherland then reached first on a single followed by a Warren walk and Ryan wearing a pitch to load the bases. Bleasdale would clear the bases except for himself with a double down the left field line, putting Alma up 13-9, still with one out. Bleasdale was then scored on a Martyn single for the Scots 14th run of the game. Alma added an additional insurance run in the ninth with Brant Goodpaster reaching first on an error and advancing to third on the play. Jack McIntosh singled, scoring Goodpaster and gave Alma the final run of the game, leading to a 15-9 win.
The Scots found 16 hits in the game including the four deep balls and four extra base hits. Cole Grunwald started on the bump for Alma followed by Brady Sager who was credited his first collegiate win and notched four strikeouts in his first career appearance. Kenny Fistler came in to close it out and collected a strikeout.
Alma will return to the field for a doubleheader rematch tomorrow with the first game starting at 12:00 PM.
