Baseball team gains doubleheader split at Kalamazoo

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Olivet College split a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) baseball doubleheader with Kalamazoo College today on the campus of Western Michigan University and at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo. After the Hornets won game, 4-1, the Comets gained the split by winning game two, 10-4.

In the opener, Olivet scored its only run in the third inning on a failed pickoff attempt at third base. Kalamazoo did all of its damage in the fourth inning, scoring all four runs on three hits.

Offensively, the Comets had seven hits. Junior Dylan Betcher went 2-for-2. Five others each had one hit. Junior Jake Ball was the hard luck loser, allowing the four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

In game two, Olivet jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Highlighting the inning was a two-run double by sophomore Drew Thompson. The Hornets came right back with a pair of runs in their half of the first.

The score stayed that way until the fifth when the Comets plated a pair of runs. Kalamazoo got one back in the bottom half of the fifth. Both teams scored a run in the sixth. Olivet broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning.

The Comets pounded out 12 hits in the win, led by sophomore Tom Kort's 3-for-3 performance. Senior Randy Young was 2-for-5 with three RBI. Thompson and junior Jonny Zawacki also had two hits apiece, with Thompson driving in three runs. Sophomore Beau Langs was 1-for-2 with three walks and a team-leading three runs from the leadoff spot in the lineup.

Freshman Colin Boak earned the pitching win. He gave up three earned runs on five hits in the first four and two-thirds innings. Sophomore Collin McCririe gave up one earned run on two hits in an inning and one-third. Zawacki threw a scoreless inning of relief.

Olivet and Kalamazoo will wrap-up their seasons tomorrow with a doubleheader at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, starting at 1 p.m.