Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Hope College

Scoreboard

#BeStrongBeTrue
Thomas Bacigalupo holds his baseball glove.
Junebug Photography
Pictured, freshman Thomas Bacigalupo
8
Winner Hope HOPE 12-12
5
Kalamazoo KALAMAZO 17-6
Winner
Hope HOPE
12-12
8
Final
5
Kalamazoo KALAMAZO
17-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Hope HOPE 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 8 8 3
Kalamazoo KALAMAZO 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 11 7

W: Johnson, Trent (3-3) L: O. Schihl (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Alan Babbitt

Baseball Wins at Kalamazoo, Evens Season Series

With the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate, trouble buzzed all around the bases for the Hope College baseball team at Kalamazoo College.

The Flying Dutchmen found the dose of Hornet-killer they needed as reliever Ian Sanders induced a game-ending double play to preserve an 8-5 victory on Wednesday. 

Hope evened the season series at one game apiece after turning Alex DiDio's grounder into the final two outs — a 4-6-3 double play from senior second baseman Nolan Gardner to freshman shortstop Elliott Peter to senior first baseman Owen Krizan.

The Flying Dutchmen (12-12, 6-2 MIAA) pulled within a half-game of first-place Adrian College. Hope is tied for second place with Kalamazoo (17-6, 6-2). Adrian leads the MIAA with a 6-1 league record.

"We found a way," head coach Stu Fritz said. "We made a couple of really big defensive plays. You certainly love to see that. I was proud of the guys. It was a huge bounce-back win for us."

The Flying Dutchmen dropped the series opener to Kalamazoo, 15-3, in eight innings on Monday at Boeve Stadium. The two teams are scheduled to conclude their three-game series on Tuesday, April 16, at 4 p.m. at Kalamazoo.

Hope erupted for six runs in the top of the seventh to take an 8-3 lead.

The Flying Dutchmen capitalized on two of Kalamazoo's seven errors, one hit batter and one walk during their rally. Krizan (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven HS) gave Hope its first lead since the first inning with an RBI single that made the score 4-3.

Sophomore leftfielder Brenden Collins (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Hackett Catholic) followed with an RBI double. The Flying Dutchmen added three more runs on a Kalamazoo fielding error and a two-run groundout.

Peter (Zionsville, Indiana / Zionsville) grounded out to first for the second out of the inning and drove home designated hitter Dylan Kleinedler (Sterling Heights, Michigan / Stevenson). Collins, hustling on the play, scored from second when Kalamazoo first baseman Daniel Beccari appeared to drop the ball in foul territory after racing to the bag to record the putout.

"It was a well-pitched game," said Fritz, whose team struck first with an unearned run during the top half of the first but did not score again until another unearned run in the sixth. "We had hard contact. I give our guys credit. Kalamazoo is very good defensively, but we put a little pressure on them and good things happened."

Starting pitcher Trent Johnson (Midland, Michigan / H.H Dow) settled down after giving up three runs (including two unearned) in the first to the Hornets to earn the victory. The righthander improved his record to 3-3 by striking out three while giving up six hits and one walk.

Relievers Thomas Bacigalupo (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow) and Ian Sanders (Grandville, Michigan / Grandville) took over for Johnson on the mound after the Flying Dutchmen regained the lead.

The righthanders yielded one run apiece. Bacigalupo pitched two innings; Sanders one.

In the ninth, two hits off Sanders, a hit batter and a Peter fielding error produced Kalamazoo's fifth run and loaded the bases with one out. It was Hope's third error of the game.

Sanders settled down and induced the grounder he needed. The victory snapped the Flying Dutchmen's eight-game losing streak to Kalamazoo, last season's MIAA regular-season champion.

Hope's next games are this weekend with a three-game series against The University of Olivet. Game 1 is Friday, April 12, at 4 p.m. at Boeve Stadium. A doubleheader will follow on Saturday, April 13, at 1 p.m. at Olivet.

 
Print Friendly Version