KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College baseball team continued the MIAA Tournament with a winner's bracket game against Alma and an elimination game against Adrian on Thursday (May 11). Unfortunately, the Hornets' quest to repeat as MIAA Tournament Champions ended with a 6-5 loss to the Scots and a 13-8 loss to the Bulldogs.
Game One
Kalamazoo started the day off strong with a four-run first inning against Alma. After Cooper Mills and Harrison Poeszat reached on an error and an infield single, Ryar Rinehart doubled down the left field line to plate Mills. Then, Poeszat and Rinehart came around on a two-RBI single by Lukas Bolton, with Cam Kelly bringing in Bolton on a single of his own.
The Scots got one of those runs back in the second, but then the Hornets regained the four-run lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Hawkins. Alma had a big inning in the bottom of the fifth with the help of errors by Kalamazoo. Braden Mussat (6-1) allowed five unearned runs in the inning as the Scots took a 6-5 lead. Mussat went five and two-thirds innings, with all six runs allowed being unearned on eight hits and four errors on the defense.
Joe Wade got the last out in the sixth and also threw the seventh, going unscathed with two strikeouts. Chase Cummins pitched a clean eighth inning as well.
Bolton went 3-4 with two RBI, while Rinehart also had three hits and an RBI. Mills and David Stechow also had multi-hit performances with Poeszat reaching twice on a hit and a walk.
Game Two
The elimination game was filled with ups and downs as Adrian scored six of the first seven runs. Three crossed the plate in the first and third innings for the Bulldogs, while Kalamazoo got a run on the board in the third as Logan Lockhart picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice.
Chase Cummins was called on to start the game after throwing an inning earlier in the day and surrendered six runs on six hits and a walk. However, the Hornets battled back with two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to tie the game at six. In the fourth, Tanner Hawkins and Robert Newland collected an RBI each on fielder's choices. Then, Harrison Poeszat, Ryar Rinehart, and Lukas Bolton hit RBI singles in the fifth to even the game up. That RBI by Rinehart was his 70th of the season, shattering the old RBI record by Doug Propson, who had 52 in 2022.
Adrian had an answer for Kalamazoo with two runs in the fifth, four in the sixth, and another in the eighth. Jaden Williams (1-1) was hit with the loss after going one and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks. Joe Wade came in with the bases loaded in the fifth to try and prevent those two runs from scoring but gave up a couple of hits before recording the final out. Wade returned for the sixth but didn't record an out, allowing two more runs to score. Blake Parpart also entered in a rough spot and could not record an out before giving up two runs. Brenden Oprinski came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, got two quick outs, but did not get the third before three runs were scored. Oprinski went three innings and was charged with a run in the eighth.
Before it was said and done, the Hornets attempted a comeback in the ninth and were able to cut the deficit to five. Poeszat got on from a single, and Rinehart brought them both home on a deep home run to center field for his 10th of the season. That home run broke the single-season record set by Spencer Baldwin and Blake Bean last season and also upped his RBI total to 72.
Mills, Poezat, Rinehart, and Bolton all had multi-hit performances, as Rinehart drove in three runs.
Kalamazoo will now look toward the NCAA DIII Tournament Selection Show, which will air on ncaa.com on Monday (May 15) at 12 p.m.