Baseball team drops two games at Trine, 5-1 and 5-3

ANGOLA, Ind. – The Olivet College baseball team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Trine (Ind.) University, 5-1 and 5-3, this afternoon at Jannen Field in Angola, Indiana.

THE BASICS
Final Scores: Trine 5, Olivet 1; Trine 5, Olivet 3
Location: Jannen Field; Angola, Ind.
Records: Trine 12-5 overall, 6-2 MIAA; Olivet 4-16 overall, 1-7 MIAA

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE)

• The Thunder plated an unearned run in the bottom half of the first inning.
• Trine scored three times in the second inning to extend its lead to 4-0.
• The Comets dented the scoreboard for the first time in the fifth inning. Junior Travis Petts singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Brady Johnson and scored on an RBI-single by senior Austin Cleaver.
• The Thunder used a similar recipe – hit, sacrifice and single – as the Comets to push across their final run in the home half of the fifth.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet finished the game with five hits.
• Five different players – Cleaver, Petts, freshman Aaron Gillespie, junior Aiden Holliday and sophomore Gary Tompkins III – each had one hit.
• On the mound, freshman Zac Walter suffered the pitching loss, as he surrendered five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over the six innings.

FOR THE THUNDER

• Grant Frankland was the winning pitcher after striking out four in the complete game performance.
• Colton Conn, Chase Hall and Jacob Heller recorded two hits apiece.
• Heller drove in a pair of runs, while Conn and Hall had one RBI each.
• Conn scored two runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO)

• Like game one, Trine took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning.
• The Thunder loaded the bases in the second inning. Olivet appeared to have escaped the inning without any damage but a fly ball was dropped in the outfield, allowing all three runners to score and make the score 4-0.
• Olivet immediately answered with a three-run third inning. Freshman Matt Rehfeldt and junior Kevin Hatcher had back-to-back singles to start the inning. Cleaver then roped a single to left field to plate Rehfeldt and advance Hatcher to second base. After a ground out moved the runners up one base and a fly out for the second out, Gillespie hit a single to left field to score both runners.
• There was no more scoring until the eighth inning when Trine added an insurance run.
• In the top half of the ninth, the Comets did not go down without a fight, as they had the tying runs on base.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet was held to six hits, all singles by Cleaver, Gillespie, Hatcher, Holliday, Rehfeldt and Tompkins III.
• On the mound, Gillespie went the distance and allowed one earned run on 12 hits. He struck out 10, batters, including six on a called third strike.

FOR THE THUNDER

• Jake LaBounty went 3-for-3 at the plate.
• Conn, Hall, Chris Frantz and Drew Palmer each collected two hits.
• Caleb Deiter picked-up the pitching win, as he yielded three runs on four hits, while striking out five.
• Andy Farrell earned the save after throwing the final two innings.

UP NEXT

• Olivet continues conference play next weekend with a four-game series against Albion College. Saturday's doubleheader will be played at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, while Sunday's games are Frank Joranko Field in Albion. Both twinbills will get started at 1 p.m.