Baseball team sweeps Trine, 4-2 and 5-4

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team rallied two win both games of a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader over Trine (Ind.) University, 4-2 and 5-4, this afternoon at the Cutler Athletic Complex.

Final Scores: Olivet 4, Trine 2; Olivet 5, Trine 4 (8)
Location: Cutler Athletic Complex; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Olivet 5-15 overall, 3-7 MIAA; Trine 3-16 overall, 3-7 MIAA

• The Thunder scored single runs in the first and third innings to go up 2-0.
• The Comets trimmed their deficit in half with a run on an RBI-double by freshman Matthew Fennell in the fourth inning.
• Olivet pushed across three runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Senior Logan Sella hit an RBI-double to score junior Matt Hewitt with the tying run and advance senior Matt Fisher to third base. After a strikeout, sophomore James Harris lined a single to score Fisher with the go-ahead run and move Sella to third base. A squeeze bunt single by sophomore Sylas Woll plated Sella with an insurance run.
• Trine brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth inning but a strike out looking ended the frame. The Thunder were retired 1-2-3 in the seventh.

• Olivet posted 10 hits.
• Harris was 3-for-3.
• Fisher and Sella each had two hits.
• Senior Max Daust scattered seven hits in the complete game, pitching victory.

• A.J. Mitchell, Brenden Warner and Adam Stefanelli tallied two hits apiece.
• Both of Mitchell's hits were doubles.
• Drew Cebulak was the losing pitcher in relief of starter Josh Hoogewerf.

• Olivet went ahead 2-0 with two runs in the third inning.
• Trine took a 4-0 lead after scoring four runs in the sixth inning.
• Down to their last at-bat, the Comets pushed across two runs in the seventh inning to send the game to extra innings. In the seventh, Olivet loaded the bases on a leadoff single and two walks. Woll lined a single into left field to score Fisher from third base and Sella from second base. The Comets had a chance to score the winning run but two fly outs ended their threat.
• In the bottom of eighth, Hewitt hit a one-out double to the left-center field gap. Fisher grounded out to second base, advancing Hewitt to third base. Sella then hit the first pitch he saw, and was able to beat out a throw to first and scored Hewitt.

• Olivet recorded nine hits.
• Fisher, Woll and junior Ben Compton each had two singles.
• Junior Brendan Redding earned the pitching win after throwing two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.

• The Thunder totaled 11 hits.
• From the leadoff spot, Shayne Devine was 3-for-5.
• Cory Erbskorn hit two doubles.
• Bryce Bloode suffered the pitching loss after giving up the winning run in the eighth.

"Winning at home is so important to the success of any program," said Olivet head baseball coach Shelby Dixon. "So, we are happy to be able to walk away with two wins today. There is work to do and lot of places where we can improve on but we've said it all along that if nothing else, this team will play hard and with heart. And we did that today." 

• The teams will finish the four-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader at Jannen Field in Angola, Indiana. Game one first pitch is slated for 1 p.m.