by Alan Babbitt

Right fielder Kainan Bayn's solo home run put the Hope College baseball team on the scoreboard quickly.

Unfortunately for the Flying Dutchmen, it was all Kalamazoo College after that.

The second-seeded Hornets cruised to a 16-2 victory on Friday and won the MIAA Tournament on Friday at Boeve Stadium. Kalamazoo (26-11) claimed the MIAA's automatic berth to next week's NCAA Division III Tournament.

Hope, the regular-season champion, finished the season with a 28-10 record. 

Kalamazoo beat the Flying Dutchmen for the second time in as many days.

After winning 11-10 in a 10th-inning walk-off on Thursday, the Hornets swarmed on eight Hope pitchers for 12 hits, including a tiebreaking, three-run homer from center fielder Blake Bean in the second.

Kalamazoo also capitalized on six walks and six hit batters by Hope pitchers and four errors by Hope fielders.

The Hornets overcame the second early loss of a starting pitcher to injury against Hope to hold the Flying Dutchmen scoreless for six innings before a RBI single from senior second baseman Grant Barrett (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea HS) scored senior shortstop Brant Kym (Libertyville, Illinois / Libertyville).

Kym and Barrett finished with two hits apiece.

Kym's .468 batting average ranks second all-time at Hope for a single season. Jim Klunder hit .471 in 1987.

Bayn (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) went 1-for-4.

Senior center fielder Evan Maday went 0-for-4 with a walk but finished with a .436 batting average that ranks sixth for a single-season for a Flying Dutchmen player.

Maday also made his first career appearance as a pitcher and retired the only batter he faced on a forceout.