Baseball team drops 7-1 and 4-3 decisions to Albion

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Albion College in both games of a doubleheader, 7-1 and 4-3, this afternoon at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

The Britons scored a run in the top half of the second inning. The Comets quickly answered with a run in their half of the second. Freshman Chris Lanyi (Clio) singled to leftfield stole second base and scored on junior Peter Panos' (Davison) single to center field.

Albion added single tallies in third and fourth innings to take a 3-1 lead. The Britons closed the scoring with two runs in each the sixth and seventh innings. Meanwhile, Olivet had only two base runners over the final five innings.

The Comets finished the game with four hits, including two by Panos. On the mound, senior Jake Ball (Cadillac) suffered the loss, giving up five earned runs on eight hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked only one.

Olivet used a two-out rally to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap. Lanyi hit an RBI-double to plate junior Beau Langs (Climax/Climax-Scotts), and a wild pitch allowed Lanyi to score the second run.

Albion did not need a hit to score two runs in the second inning. The Britons took a 3-2 lead with a run in the fifth inning. The Comets came right back in their half of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Junior Tom Kort (New Hudson/South Lyon) led off with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and scored on Langs' single into the left-center field gap.

Albion pushed across what proved to be the game-winning run in the seventh on a two-out RBI-single. The Britons retired the Olivet batters in order in the bottom half of the seventh.

For the game, the Comets out-hit Albion, 7-5. Langs was 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI. Five others each had a hit. Extra base hits were Kort's and Lanyi's doubles and a triple by senior Dylan Betcher (Lansing/Everett).

Sophomore Colin Boak (Fowlerville) started on the mound, giving up two earned runs on four hits in five and one-third innings, but did not factor in the decision. Junior Collin McCririe (Brighton) was charged with the loss after allowing the winning run on one hit and one walk in an inning and one-third of relief. Sophomore Ryan Roeske (Warren/De La Salle) recorded the final out in the seventh.

Olivet makes the short trip to Albion for the final two games of the MIAA series tomorrow afternoon, starting at 2 p.m.