by Greg Chandler

Hope College used a record-setting offensive explosion Friday afternoon to clinch a berth in the championship series of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Baseball Tournament.

The Flying Dutchmen scored in all but one inning, defeating the Britons, 24-14, on Friday at Boeve Stadium to win Pool B of the MIAA tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. Hope pounded out 23 hits off eight Albion College pitchers. 

The 24 runs set an MIAA tournament single-game record, breaking the previous mark of 18 scored by Calvin University in an 18-2 win over Hope in 2017.

Second-seeded Hope, now 25-13 on the season, has won 14 consecutive games. The Flying Dutchmen will face top seed Adrian College in a best-of-3 championship series that begins with a single game Wednesday, May 19 at Nicolay Field in Adrian. Game two and an if-necessary third game are scheduled for Thursday, May 20 at Adrian.

After the game, Hope coach Stu Fritz marveled at how his team has responded after a four-game losing streak put them with a 9-10 record on April 10.

"We just challenged them a little bit and said we've got to decide what we want to be," Fritz said. "I put that right on the seniors. The leadership has come from within, and guys have just stepped up and found a way to do it."

Hope's left side of the infield – senior third baseman Joey Merucci, pictured above, of Northville Township, Michigan (Detroit Catholic Central HS) and senior shortstop Brant Kym of Libertyville, Illinois (Libertyville HS), pictured left, – packed a wallop in the middle of the Flying Dutchmen's batting order. 

Merucci went 3-for-5, including a double, and drove in five runs, while Kym, pictured at right, went 2-for-4, including a double and a stolen base, and knocked in four more runs.

Hope scored twice in the first inning and once in the second for a 3-1 lead. The Flying Dutchmen blasted the game open in the middle innings with 15 runs in the third through fifth frames.

In the third, an RBI single by Kym and a two-run single by Merucci highlighted a four-run surge that boosted the Hope lead to 7-1. Junior right fielder Kainan Bayn of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East), who went 4-for-5 on the day, also had an RBI single in that inning.

In the fourth, Kym and Merucci struck again as Hope scored five runs. Kym cleared the bases with a three-run double, then scored on a Merucci single.

An inning later, the Flying Dutchmen rang up six more runs. After senior catcher Cal Barrett of Chelsea, Michigan (Chelsea) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run, Merucci delivered a two-run double. 

Before the inning was over, junior designated hitter Andrew Gilpin of Brighton, Michigan (Brighton) singled in a run and sophomore second baseman Nolan Gardner of East Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) doubled in another as Hope extended its lead to 18-4 with the game only half over.

Fritz said it was important for his team to keep up the pressure on an Albion team that had overcome 6-0 deficits in back-to-back elimination games against Trine University and Calvin Thursday to advance to the Pool B final.

"You never felt comfortable the whole time, and that showed," Fritz aid. "You tip your hat to them. They never quit one time. Even when it was way out of hand, they never quit and kept battling."

Twelve different Hope players, including all but one starter, had at least one hit in the game. Junior first baseman Grant Barrett of Chelsea, Michigan (Chelsea) belted two solo homers, his second and third of the season, while Bayn went deep for the second time this season.

Junior left fielder Spencer Cable of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville HS) went 3-for-4, including a triple and a stolen base, and scored four runs out of the leadoff spot. Gardner had two doubles as part of a 3-for-5 day at the plate. 

Cal Barrett drove in three runs, and senior right fielder Evan Becker of Rochester, Michigan (Stoney Creek) added a three-run double.

Junior righthander Dane Martin of New Baltimore, Michigan (Mount Clemens L'Anse Creuse North) gained the pitching victory for Hope, his first of the season, allowing two runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.