A five-run first inning proved to be too much to overcome for the Hope College baseball team Saturday night as the Flying Dutchmen dropped a 9-7 decision to nationally-ranked Kalamazoo College in the rubber game of a three-game series at Davenport University in Caledonia.

The Flying Dutchmen, who split a doubleheader with the Hornets on Friday, fell to 4-10 in the MIAA and 10-23 overall with the loss, while Kalamazoo, ranked No. 8 nationally by d3baseball.com, raised its record to 13-2 in the MIAA and 29-4 overall.

The Hornets sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring five runs on six hits to get the early jump. Kalamazoo extended its lead to 7-1 in the fourth inning on a Robert Newland home run.

The Flying Dutchmen battled back, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by sophomore catcher Thatcher Simon (Byron Center, Michigan/Byron Center) and senior center fielder Jace DeMann (Byron Center, Michigan/Grand Rapids South Christian) to cut the lead to 7-3.

Hope loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, and scored on an RBI walk by senior designated hitter Charlie Saul (Batavia, Illinois/Batavia). However, a strikeout and a double play squelched the potential big inning.

A run-scoring triple by senior first baseman Cade Seabaugh (Ballwin, Missouri/Ladue Horton) in the sixth cut the Kalamazoo lead to 8-5. The Hornets added a run in the top of the seventh, but Hope responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring single by senior right fielder Brenden Collins (Kalamazoo, Michigan/Hackett Catholic) and a bases-loaded walk to sophomore left fielder Corbin Bennetts (Jenison, Michigan/Jenison) to pull to within 9-7.

Hope put runners on second and third with one out in the eighth with a chance to potentially tie the game, but Kalamazoo got a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the inning. The Flying Dutchmen left 13 runners on base for the contest.

Seabaugh led Hope's 10-hit attack with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, driving in two runs. Collins and sophomore third baseman Nick Verduzco (Kalamazoo, Michigan/Hackett Catholic) each added two hits, and Bennetts reached base four times on three walks and a hit.

Junior right-hander Jake Coulter (West Bloomfield, Michigan/Birmingham Brother Rice) took the pitching loss for Hope to fall to 1-3, giving up six runs and seven hits in one inning of work.