by Alan Babbitt

Arinn King picked up the Hope College softball team at a crucial moment.

The junior second baseman slugged a leadoff homer and laced an RBI single in her first two at-bats in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Albion College on Wednesday.

The Flying Dutch went on to win, 7-0, after dropping the first game, 8-2. With a 12-2 MIAA record, Hope (21-9 overall) remained in contention for a share of the league championship with two games remaining.

On Saturday, April 28, the Flying Dutch host first-place Trine University, which is 14-0 in MIAA play. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Wolters Stadium.

King (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville HS), pictured right, homered to left-center to lead off the bottom of the first inning against Albion (15-15, 5-9 MIAA). It was King's team-leading fifth home run of the season.

In the second inning, King capped a two-run rally for a 3-0 Hope lead with a two-out RBI single to right that scored junior third baseman Bre Nolan (Metamora, Michigan / Lapper).

Senior catcher Morgann Kanouse (Cadillac, Michigan / Cadillac), pictured left, led off the second with a home run to left. It was Kanouse's second home run of the season.

Hope tacked on three more runs in the third. The Flying Dutch received a two-run single from senior shortstop Savannah Dixon (Niles, Michigan / Edwardsburg) and a run-scoring groundout from Nolan.

In the sixth, first baseman Kaelin Callow capped a 3-for-4 day with a single that scored freshman center fielder Peyton Benjamin (Eaton Rapids, Michigan / Eaton Rapids).

Starting pitcher Avery Slancik (Scotts, Michigan / Vicksburg) and reliever Alaina Adams (Oak Creek, Wisconsin / St. Thomas More) combined a five-hit shutout. 

The right-handed Slancik scattered four hits and one walk over five innings. The junior struck out four and raised her record to 8-1.

In Game 1, Callow recorded two of Hope's four hits with a fifth-inning RBI double and a seventh-inning RBI single. Albion scored all eight of its runs during the first four innings.

Callow upped her batting average to a team-leading .402.