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Colton Kinnie and Corbin Bennetts hold baseball bats.
Pictured, from leff, Colton Kinnie and Corbin Bennetts
14
Winner Manchester MANCHEST 10-7
13
Hope HOPE 5-12
Winner
Manchester MANCHEST
10-7
14
Final
13
Hope HOPE
5-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Manchester MANCHEST 0 0 1 0 3 0 4 5 1 14 12 1
Hope HOPE 2 0 0 0 5 1 5 0 0 13 19 4

W: J. McGrath (1-0) L: Bacigalupo, Thomas (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Alan Babbitt

Baseball Drops Slugfest to Manchester in Home Opener

Freshmen Colton Kinnie and Corbin Bennetts achieve rare feats with five hits and six RBIs, respectively

The Hope College baseball team repealed the first two charges from the Spartans of Manchester University (Indiana), but not two more and dropped a 14-13 slugfest in Tuesday's home opener.

The Flying Dutchmen recorded a season-high 19 hits and career days from freshmen Corbin Bennetts and Colton Kinnie at Boeve Baseball Stadium.

Manchester, however, scored the game's final six runs with a five-run eighth and a tiebreaking run in the ninth. The Spartans collected 12 hits against seven Hope pitchers while capitalizing on four Hope fielding errors that led to six unearned runs and two base-running mistakes that cost the Flying Dutchmen two runs.

Kinnie (Birmingham, Michigan / Seaholm HS) hit for the cycle and went 5-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

The designated hitter became just the sixth Hope player since 2003 to register five hits in a game. Kinnie blasted a solo homer in the fifth and a triple in the third, doubled in the seventh and singled in the first and sixth. It was his third home run this season.

Bennetts (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison) became just the 11th Hope player since 2003 to record at least six RBIs in a game.

The left fielder batted 3-for-5, slugging a grand slam during a five-run seventh, smacked a sixth-inning RBI double during a one-run sixth and hit a sacrifice fly during a two-run first.

All five Flying Dutchmen starters registered at least one hit. Senior catcher Ben Stratman (Ann Arbor, Michigan / Pioneer) also finished with a three-hit game.

Hope answered Manchester's go-ahead, three-run fifth by scoring five times in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-4 lead.

In the seventh, the Flying Dutchmen struck back after a four-run Manchester rally evened the score at 8-8. Hope scored five times, capped by Bennett's grand slam, his second home run of the season.

Manchester (11-7) batted around in the eighth, stringing together five hits as part of a five-run rally. Joel Kennedy scored the tying run, earned, when the Flying Dutchmen tried to pick him off at third after catching the second out on a popup.

Reliever Jack McGrath retired Hope in order in the eighth, setting the stage for the Spartans to deliver a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth from Gavin Gleason.

The Flying Dutchmen put two runners on in their half of the ninth, but McGrather ended the threat with a groundout.

Hope (5-14) is scheduled to play next on Friday, March 28, at 4 p.m. against Trine University at Boeve Baseball Stadium. The two teams also are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at Trine as part of a league-opening, three-game series.

 
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