Baseball team splits doubleheader against Alma

WIXOM, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team split a doubleheader Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Alma College today at the Total Sports Complex in Wixom. The Comets won the opener 8-4 before the Scots won a slugfest to salvage the split with a 15-11 victory in game two.

Final Score: Olivet 8, Alma 4; Alma 15, Olivet 11
Location: Total Sports Complex; Wixom, Mich.
Records: Alma 16-20 overall, 12-12 MIAA; Olivet 6-30 overall, 4-20 MIAA

• After the first three batters reached for the Comets via a hit by pitch, fielder's choice and walk in the second inning, freshman Matt Hewitt cleared the bases with a grand slam home run. Olivet added another run to go up 5-0 when freshman Jake Csizmadia doubled, stole second and scored on an error by the Alma catcher.
• The Scots pushed across an unearned run in their half of the second inning.
• Junior Riley Bennett hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to extend the Comets' lead to 6-1.
• Alma scored three runs and left the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
• A two-run home run by Bennett in the seventh inning pushed Olivet's lead back to three runs, 8-4.

• On the mound, freshman Hunter Henson earned his first collegiate win. He allowed the four runs, three earned, on seven hits over five and one-third innings.
• Senior Travis Petts picked-up the save after getting the final five outs.
• At the plate, Bennett hit two home runs and drove in three runs.
• Csizmadia was 2-for-3 with two doubles.

• Pete Carravallah and Max Trucks each went 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Trucks scored two runs.
• Starting pitcher Trevor Wregglesworth suffered the loss, as he yielded six runs (five earned) on six hits over five innings.

• In the first inning, Alma led 1-0 behind a walk with the bases loaded.
• Olivet got that run back in the second inning on an RBI-double by senior Jake Robinson to score senior Dugan Dieselberg.
• The Comets then plated five runs in the third inning to go ahead 6-1. Bennett drove in junior Brandan Settles with the first run, and sophomore Seamus Mitchell capped the scoring with a grand slam home run over the fence in center field.
• Back-to-back sacrifice flies scored two runs for the Scots in the home half of the third.
• Alma added two more runs in the fourth to trim its deficit down to one run, 6-5.
• The Comets regained a three-run lead with a pair of runs in the fifth inning.
• In the last half of the fifth, the Scots used a two-out rally to push across four runs to take a 9-8 lead.
• Alma plated two runs in the sixth to extend its margin to three runs at 11-8.
• Olivet answered in the top of seventh when freshman Hayden Zimmerman blasted a three-run to tie the game.
• In the bottom half of the seventh, the Scots took the lead back with a bases-loaded walk to go ahead 12-11.
• Alma added three insurance runs in the eighth inning on a solo homer and two-run homer to make the score 15-11.

• Olivet pounded out 13 hits.
• Robinson was 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.
• Mitchell had two hits, scored four runs and drove in four runs.
• Settles collected two hits and two stolen bases.
• Dieselberg and Sella also recorded two hits apiece.
• Zimmerman tallied four RBI.
• Five pitchers made an appearance on the mound. Junior Matt Rehfeldt was charged with the loss after giving up two runs on two hits over two innings.

• Alma totaled 14 hits.
• Carravallah was 5-for-5 with three doubles, five runs scored and four RBI.
• Logan Huff registered two hits, three walks, two runs scored and four RBI.
• Ty Sobczak was the winning pitcher.

• Bennett is the seventh player in school history to hit two or more home runs in a game.
• It is believed to be the first time in school history that the Comets have hit two grand slam home runs on the same day.

• Olivet faces Kalamazoo College in its final MIAA series. The first doubleheader will be played Saturday at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, followed by the second doubleheader Sunday at Woodworth Field in Kalamazoo. Both twinbills feature a 1 p.m. first pitch.