by Alan Babbitt

Ten extra-base hits powered the Hope College softball team to a 5-4 and 11-2 sweep of Alma College on Tuesday at Wolters Stadium.

The Flying Dutch improved to 12-4 overall while remaining unbeaten in MIAA play with an 8-0 league record.

In Game 1, left fielder Jo Cook, pictured right, led the change with a two-run double to right for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. 

The senior from Birch Run, Michigan (Birch Run HS) snapped a 2-2 tie in the fifth with a two-run triple center.

Sophomore right fielder Cayley Ebeling of Shelby Township, Michigan (Utica) added an important insurance run with an RBI double in the sixth.

Alma (13-9, 4-4 MIAA) rallied with a two-out, two-run double in the seventh and had the tying run on second base.

Pitcher Megan Soderbloom, who went the distance, retired the next batter on a groundout to second to end the game.

Soderbloom (5-2) allowed nine hits. The senior lefthander from Dowagiac, Michigan (Dowagiac) struck out five and walked five.

In Game 2, shortstop Savannah Dixon (Niles, Michigan/Edwardsburg) delivered an RBI triple and scored on a passed ball as part of a three-run top of the first for the Flying Dutch. Dixon later added an RBI single.

Hope collected 12 hits, seven of which went for extra bases.

Second baseman Arinn King (Hudsonville, Michigan/Hudsonville) went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles.

Soderbloom, Hope's designated player for the game, cracked a two-run triple.

Catcher Haley Bennett (Livonia, Michigan/Franklin), pictured left, hit a solo homer in the seventh.

Winning pitcher Avery Slancik scattered eight hits over seven innings. The junior right-hander from Scotts, Michigan (Vicksburg) struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Hope's next games are Friday, April 9 at Wolters Stadium against Alma College at 12 p.m. and Trine University at 4 p.m. The games will not count toward the MIAA standings.