Baseball team ends 2003 season with two losses against MIAA champion Hope College
The Olivet College baseball team ended its 2003 season with two losses against Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) champion Hope College today. The Fighting Comets fell 10-1 in the first game, and lost the nightcap, 11-0.
OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team ended its 2003 season with two losses against Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) champion Hope College today. The Fighting Comets fell 10-1 in the first game, and lost the nightcap, 11-0.
Olivet ends its season with a 23-17 overall record and 12-5 MIAA mark. The 23 wins are the most victories in a single-season for Olivet since the 1996 team won 26 games. Olivet also won 20 or more games for only the fourth time since 1956.
In the first game, the Comets scored their only run in the second inning. Junior Joe Richards (Galesburg/Augusta High School) led the inning off with a single. He then stole second and third base on the back-to-back pitches by Hope starting pitcher Matt Widenmier. Freshman Stan Cieslak (Troy/Avondale High School) hit a single through the left side to score Richards.
Junior Richard Strain (Livonia/Churchill High School) and sophomore Matthew Hurley (Sault Ste. Marie, Canada/White Plains) each had a base hit for Olivet. Senior Jacob Marlow (Delton/Kellogg High School) picked-up the loss as he pitched the first five innings, allowing eight base hits and seven earned runs.
In the nightcap, Hope scored a run in the first inning before sending batters to the plate and scoring eight runs in the third inning. The Flying Dutchmen closed out the scoring with two runs in the fifth inning. Strain, senior James Virden (Branch/Mason County Central High School) and junior Beau Locker (Coldwater/Union City High School) all had a singles for Olivet. Senior Thomas Stowe (Middlefield, Ohio/Cardinal High School) suffered the loss after pitching two and two-thirds innings. He gave up six base hits and seven earned runs.