By Gerrit Immink '17

The Hope College Flying Dutchmen will participate in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association baseball tournament for a sixth straight year. They are joined by MIAA champion Adrian (23-5), Kalamazoo (20-8), and Calvin (19-21).

Hope travels to Kalamazoo Wednesday to open as the third seed in this year's tournament.

First pitch for Wednesday's game between Hope and Kalamazoo is scheduled for 4 p.m. Fourth seeded Calvin will face the top seed Adrian at 6 p.m.

On Thursday, the double-elimination tournament will head to the east side of the state, wrapping up at Adrian.

MIAA Tournament page with links to video, live stats, rosters, and tournament program

Hope and Kalamazoo met in last year's championship game, with Hope falling to Kalamazoo 3-1. Hope has struggled against the Hornets this year, losing the season series 3 games to 1.

Hope has a player in the top five in the MIAA of nearly every major statistical category.

Senior and All-MIAA selection JP Batts of Spring Lake, Michigan (Spring Lake) boasts a .436 batting average, good for third highest in the conference.

Nick Holt, a sophomore from Muskegon, Michigan (Catholic Central) cracks the top five with a 3.28 earned run average.

Senior Eric Plaehn from Lansing, Michigan (Catholic Central HS) secured a spot on the leaderboard after picking up six victories on the year.

Sophomore Tanner Gilmore of Murrieta, California (Alta Loma HS) lead Hope with 6 homeruns, which also placed him in the top five in the MIAA.

Hope College is 8-10 all-time in the MIAA tournament. The Flying Dutchmen are winless in three tries against Adrian. They have split their four games against Kalamazoo, with each team picking up a pair of wins. Versus Calvin in the MIAA tournament Hope is 2-3.