Baseball Team Beats Albion College Twice
The Olivet College baseball team won two games at Albion College. The Fighting Comets won the first game, 6-4, after it was suspended because of rain on Thursday afternoon. Olivet then won the second game 8-1.
ALBION, Mich. –
Olivet (21-14, 11-4 MIAA) has now won 12 straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association games and controls its own destiny for the top spot in the league standings. The Comets host MIAA leader Hope College next Wednesday and Thursday, May 7-8. A three-game series sweep of Hope would give both teams an identical 14-4 MIAA mark.
In today's first game, Olivet tallied a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The Britons rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. Olivet then rallied with three runs in the top of the seventh to "steal" the win.
The "big" hits in the seventh were a two-run single by junior second baseman Joe Richards (Galesburg Augusta High School) and freshman designated hitter Stan Cieslak (Troy Avondale High School) hit a RBI single to score Richards with the winning run.
At the plate, both senior shortstop Steve Held (Brampton, Ontario/Saint Augustine High School) and junior centerfielder Beau Locker (Coldwater Union City High School) were three-for-four. Locker also scored three runs and stole a base. Richards had three RBI.
Junior D.J. Celetti (Sault Ste. Marie, Canada/Notre Dame) picked-up the victory after pitching the final inning and third in relief. Senior Jacob Marlow (Delton Kellogg High School) started the game and allowed four hits and four earned runs. He struck out six batters.
In the second game, Olivet scored a run in both the second and third inning. The Comets added two more in the fifth, one more in the seventh and closed out the scoring with three runs in the eighth inning. Senior Thomas Stowe (Middlefield, Ohio/Cardinal High School) pitched a gem as he allowed only five base hits in nine innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Locker had three more hits. Richards, senior James Virden (Branch/Mason County Central High School) and junior Richard Strain (Livonia Churchill High School) all had two hits. Sophomore Matthew Hurley (Sault Ste. Marie, Canada/White Plains) scored two runs and drove in two runs without getting a base hit.
Olivet is next in action tomorrow, May 3 when it hosts Aquinas College in a non-league game at 1 p.m.