by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College softball team delivered a hit parade for its home opener on Tuesday.

The Flying Dutch took two from Kalamazoo College on Wolters Stadium by racking up 21 runs and 23 hits.

Hope won the first game, 6-1, and the second game, 15-1, in five innings. The Flying Dutch are now 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play.

In the opener, Hope snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run third.

Winning pitcher Megan Soderbloom helped her cause again with a go-ahead, RBI double that brought home shortstop Savannah Dixon of Niles, Michigan (Edwardsburg HS). Soderbloom (Dowagiac, Michigan/Dowagiac) tied the score in the first with an RBI single.

Pinch-runner Kyra Acker (Eaton Rapids, Michigan/Eaton Rapids) then scored following a double from first baseman Kaelin Callow (Plainfield, Illinois/Plainfield), pictured, and a sacrifice fly by designated player Claire Bates (Midland, Michigan/Bullock Cree).

Catcher Morgann Kanouse (Cadillac, Michigan/Cadillac) drove home Callow with a double.

In the sixth, Hope tacked on two more runs on an RBI single from pinch-hitter Vanessa Krombeen (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Calvin Christian) and a sacrifice fly from second baseman Arinn King (Hudsonville, Michigan/Hudsonville).

The Flying Dutch finished with nine hits.

Soderbloom went the distance and allowed six hits and two walks. The senior lefty struck out one.

In the second game, Hope jumped to a 5-0 lead in the top half of the first inning.

The Flying Dutch rally featured an RBI single from Callow, a bases-loaded walk from Kanouse, a two-run double from right fielder Cayley Ebeling (Shelby Township, Utica) and an RBI single from centerfielder third baseman Bre Nolan (Metamora, Michigan/Lapeer).

Hope collected 14 hits. Nolan went 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and a run scored.

Callow finished 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored.

Left fielder Jo Cook (Birch Run, Michigan/Birch Run), pictured, batted 2-for-4 with a three-run home run. 

Ebeling had two hits and two runs batted in.

Winning pitcher Alaina Adams (Oak Creek, Wisconsin/St. Thomas More) earned her first collegiate victory with three innings of scoreless relief. The right-hander did not allow a baserunner.

Hope's next games are Friday, March 26 against Trine University and Adrian College at Trine.