Baseball team swept at Kalamazoo, 5-3 and 4-1

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team was swept by Kalamazoo College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader this afternoon at Woodworth Field in Kalamazoo. The Hornets won by scores of 5-3 and 4-1.

In the first game, Olivet scored a run in the second inning. Junior Drew Thompson (Canton/Salem) led off the inning with a single, stole second base and crossed the plate on an RBI-single by junior Troy Pickard (Goshen, Ind.). The Comets added another run in the fourth inning. Senior Dylan Betcher (Lansing/Everett) drew a walk to start the inning, stole second and went to third on a groundout. With the infield drawn in, junior Peter Panos (Davison) hit a ball to the shortstop, who misplayed the ball, but Betcher was running on the play and scored.

The Hornets cut their deficit in half on a solo home run in the bottom half of the fourth. Olivet got that run back in the sixth inning when freshman Austin Cleaver (St. Johns) singled, advanced to second on Betcher's sacrifice bunt and scored on Panos' RBI-single. Kalamazoo used four hits and a walk to score four runs in the home half of the sixth inning. The Comets were retired in order in the seventh inning.

For the game, five different Olivet players recorded a base hit. Panos drove in a pair of runs. On the mound, senior Jake Ball (Cadillac) was charged with the loss after allowing the five runs on seven hits in five and one-third innings. In relief, sophomore Ryan Roeske (Warren/De La Salle) recorded the final two outs in the sixth inning.

In the nightcap, the Comets strung together three straight singles after two outs had been recorded to score their run in the second inning. Senior Andrew Engle (Greenville) hit the first single up the middle, went to second on freshman Andrew Dayfield's (Brownstown/Woodhaven) single and scored on junior Tom Kort's (New Hudson/South Lyon) single.

The Hornets answered right back with three runs in their half of the second inning. Olivet brought the go-ahead or tying run to the plate in the third, fourth and fifth innings but failed to score. Kalamazoo pushed across an insurance run in the bottom half of the fifth inning.

Offensively, the Comets recorded seven hits. Engle went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Five others had one hit apiece. On the mound, sophomore Colin Boak (Fowlerville) started and went five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits. Sophomore Stephen Botti (Decatur) pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

The teams will wrap-up the four-game MIAA series tomorrow, with a doubleheader at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, starting at 1 p.m.