CAROL STREAM, Ill. - The Kalamazoo College baseball team played a single non-conference road game at Wheaton and won 6-5 on Wednesday (Apr. 24). The Hornets' record improved to 23-8 on the season, and the Thunder dropped to 9-23.
Scoring Plays
Kalamazoo held a 2-0 lead after the top half of the third inning. Tanner Hawkins hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in Robert Newland, who tripled in the previous at-bat, in the second inning. After back-to-back walks to being the third, Cooper Mills moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt, and Harrison Poeszat brought one in on an RBI groundout.
Two RBI singles in the bottom of the third inning by Wheaton tied the game at two. The Hornets regained the lead in the fifth as Lukas Bolton reached on an error, eventually got to third on a Logan Lockhart single, and scored on a Liam Regan sacrifice fly. Unfortunately, the Thunder scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 4-3 lead.
This set up a big ninth inning for Kalamazoo, and the players responded. The Hornets loaded the bases with one out on a fielder's choice and two walks by Hawkins and Bolton. Pinch hitter Alex DiDio drew a bases loaded walk for the game-tying run, and Regan poked a single the opposite way for two more runs. Wheaton did get one run in the bottom of the inning, but the pitching staff held on for the one-run win.
Pitching
Brenden Oprinski made the start and threw two shutout innings with four hits allowed and a strikeout. Owen Schihl took the third and fourth innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
Jacob Davis pitched the next three scoreless innings with two hits allowed and two strikeouts. Robert Ahlgren (5-1) received the win after throwing the eighth and ninth innings, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Hitting
Liam Regan finished 1-2 with a single, a sacrifice fly, a walk, and three RBI. Robert Newland was the only batter with two hits, as one was a triple, and he stole three bases.
Logan Lockhart was on base twice with a hit and a walk, with Tanner Hawkins drawing two walks. Harrison Poeszat, Alex DiDio, and Hawkins collected the other three RBI.
Statistics
2B: none
3B: Newland (2)
HR: none
RBI: Regan 3 (7), DiDio (3), Hawkins (14), Poeszat (47)
Sac Fly: Hawkins (1), Regan (1)
Sac Bunt: Mills (2)
SB: Newland 3 (21), Bolton (6), Lockhart (2)
BB: Hawkins 2 (18), Bolton (9), DiDio (3), Lockhart (9), Regan (4)
HBP: none
(Season Total)
Up Next
Kalamazoo will begin a four-game series with Olivet on Saturday, Apr. 27, in a home doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.