Inclement weather capped a frustrating weekend for the Hope baseball team.

 

After dropping a doubleheader to Adrian College on Friday, the Flying Dutchmen lost to the Bulldogs in Saturday's first game, 6-4, and were down 5-2 in the fourth inning of the nightcap when play was stopped twice, first by lightning in the area and then by rain. The status of the suspended game is to be determined.

 

Hope slipped to 9-10 overall and are 2-5 against MIAA opponents.

 

In the opener, Hope made a game of it, scoring four runs in the seventh after being held scoreless on three singles through six innings. Spencer Cable (Hudsonville/Hudsonville), pictured, broke up the shutout with a two-RBI single, followed by RBI singles from Evan Maday (Grand Rapids/East Kentwood) and Cal Barrett (Chelsea/Chelsea).

 

Starter Max Gaishin (1-2) (Stevenville/Lakeshore) suffered the loss, pitching into the fifth inning. Reliever Jake Van Dam (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) held Adrian to one hit the rest of the way.

 

All of Hope's hits were singles. Maday had three of them and added a pair of stolen bases to raise his team-leading total for the season to 20. He now has 66 thefts in his career, a Hope record.

 

Winning Adrian pitcher Trey Miller (1-0) came in relief with two outs in the first inning after starter Mo Hanley was forced to leave the game with an unspecified injury. Hanley was recently featured by the MLB network as a professional prospect.

 

The second game had a lightning delay of more than an hour until play resumed in the rain with Adrian ahead 4-0 in the second inning. Hope cut the deficit in half by scoring twice in third, first on an RBI triple by Evan Becker (Rochester/Stoney Creek) and the second on Cable's RBI single. Steady rain forced another delay and the umpires' ultimate decision to suspend play.

 

Hope's next scheduled action is a home conference doubleheader against Alma next Friday, April. 16.