Excellent pitching performance helps baseball team beat Rochester, 15-4

OLIVET, Mich. – Eight pitchers combined to allow only four hits over the nine innings, and the Olivet College baseball team defeated Rochester College, 15-4, in non-conference action today at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

The Comets got off to a quick start by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Randy Young and RBI-double by senior Andrew Brawley. Olivet added two more runs in the second on a sac fly by sophomore Beau Langs and RBI-single by junior Jonny Zawacki.

The Warriors trimmed their deficit in half when they scored twice in the third inning. The Comets then sent all nine batters in their lineup to the plate in the fourth frame, scoring five runs on five hits. All five runs were driven in on run-scoring singles by Zawacaki, and sophomores Joey Myers, Drew Thompson and Tom Kort.

Olivet stretched its lead to 11-2 on a two-run double by Brawley in the fifth. Rochester got one back in the sixth inning on a throwing error by Kort, which was his first miscue in 65 chances. The Warriors scored another run in the seventh to make the score 11-4.

The Comets capped the scoring with four runs in the eighth inning. Junior Joel Peters drove in the first run with an RBI-groundout, followed by Kort's second two-run single of the game and a run-scoring single by sophomore Chris Dael.

Offensively, Olivet recorded 18 hits. Brawley led the way with three hits, including two doubles, and three RBI. Zawacki also had three hits. Kort and Young each collected two hits, while Kort drove in a team-leading four runs. Langs, Myers, Young, Zawacki and junior Dylan Betcher all scored two runs apiece.

Senior Jay Magro started on the mound and allowed one hit in two innings to earn the win. The seven relief pitchers – freshman Stephen Botti, sophomore Collin McCririe, freshman Ryan Roeske, sophomore Jensen Aubry, freshman Mitch Galloway, Brawley and Zawacki – each threw an inning.

The Comets will now focus on their final four Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season games of the season Friday and Saturday against Kalamazoo College. The first two games of the series will be played in Kalamazoo, with the series moving to Olivet for the last two games. Friday's game one is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch, and Saturday's action starts at 1 p.m.