Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Tom Renner
The Hope College baseball team enters the final week of the regular season positioned to gain a high seed in the MIAA tournament after sweeping a four-game weekend series over Albion College.
The Flying Dutchmen scored two victories on Saturday at Albion, 16-6 and 8-6 in eight innings. Those victories followed wins on Friday at Hope, 11-1 and 6-0.
With a seven-game winning streak, coach
Stu Fritz's Flying Dutchmen stand 18-13 overall.
Adrian tops the MIAA standings (18-1) while three teams are in contention for second place with eight losses -- Calvin (12-8), Hope (11-8) and Kalamazoo (10-8). Hope and Calvin each have four league games remaining while Kalamazoo has six. The COVID pandemic has caused some cancellations which means teams will not play the same number of league games.
Saturday's victories were gained in different ways. In the opener, the Flying Dutchmen scored nine runs in the third inning and never looked back.
The nightcap was a see-saw affair as the Albion Britons on three occasions erased a Hope lead with a home run. The Flying Dutchmen finally pushed the winning run across the plate in the eighth on a two-out two-RBI single by
Brant Kym (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), pictured right, scoring
Evan Maday (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood) and
Cal Barrett (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea).
Jake Van Dam (Cranford, N.J./Cranford), the third Hope pitcher, gained the victory (2-1) with two innings of relief. Starter
Max Gaishin (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) pitched into the fourth inning while
Graham O'Gorman (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) went through the sixth.
Leadoff hitter
Spencer Cable (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) batted three-for-five in Game 2 to give him five hits — one being a triple — in the doubleheader. Kym had three RBIs on 2-for-4 hitting.
Hope had four triples in the doubleheader. They entered Saturday's game with six triples in their previous 29 games.
In the opener, the Flying Dutchmen scored more than 10 runs for the tenth time this season and the fourth time in the last six games.
A nine-run third inning that saw 13 batters come to the plate was highlighted by back-to-back triples from
Evan Maday and
Nolan Gardner. Maday's second trip to the plate that inning also resulted in a triple, raising his season total for three-baggers to four. He is now tied for the Hope career record in triples with 11, a mark shared with Matt Sattler from 2005-08.
Maday batted four-for-four in Game 1.
Grant Barrett (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) was credited with three RBIs while collecting two hits apiece were Cable, Gardner, and
Joey Merucci (Northville Township, Mich./Catholic Central HS).
Al Vasquez (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) pitched the victory (5-3), allowing six hits over the five innings. He had excellent control throwing 40-of-60 pitches for strikes.
Reece Crabtree (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) pitched the final two innings.
Maday also stole three bases in the doubleheader to tie the Hope single season record for thefts at 30 with Mitch Van Putten in 1985. He added to his Hope career record for stolen bases with 80 and moved up to fourth among the career leaders in total bases (237) and into the top ten for hits (158).
The Flying Dutchmen approach the final week of the regular season with a single non-league game at Kalamazoo on Tuesday, followed by a Thursday-Friday four-game series with Trine University. The MIAA tournament begins Wednesday, May 12.
