MARIETTA, Ohio - The Kalamazoo College baseball team continued its spring break trip with a neutral site matchup against New Jersey City on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 19). The Hornets won convincingly with a 10-0 run-rule victory in seven innings over the Gothic Knights.
After posting a zero in the top half of the first inning, the Hornets scored three in the home half for the early lead. Lukas Bolton opened the inning with a double down the right field line, and David Stechow followed with a bunt single. Then with one out, three straight Hornets were hit by a pitch to bring home two runs as Cooper Mills and Daniel Beccari picked up an RBI each. NJCU got an out at home for the second out, but then a pitch also hit Alex Fenkell for the third run.
The lead was extended in the second as Bolton set up the inning with a lead-off walk and eventually scored on a one-out triple to center by Robert Newland. The second run came in after Mills executed a squeeze bunt to plate Newland. One more run was scored in the third after Kalamazoo loaded the bases and Stechow was hit by a pitch.
To get to 10 runs, the Hornets scored a run in the fourth, two in the sixth, and one in the seventh. Mills opened the fourth with a single and eventually made it to third on a Beccari single and Cam Kelly's sacrifice bunt. A Gothic Knight wild pitch allowed Mills to cross the plate. Mills got the inning going again in the sixth after singling on a bunt with one out, then stealing second base and making it to third on a throwing error. Ryar Rinehart made New Jersey City pay for the error with an RBI single up the middle. Kalamazoo loaded the bases with a single by Kelly and Tanner Hawkins being hit by a pitch. That allowed Rinehart the opportunity to steal home. The game's final run was scored on a bases loaded walk in the seventh, with Kelly scoring.
Braden Mussat (1-0) picked up the complete game shutout after allowing just three hits in seven innings and striking out three.
Mills finished the day 3-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI. Bolton reached base four times with a double and three walks.
The Hornets will now travel to Florida to continue their spring break trip with a single game against Wisconsin-La Crosse on Tuesday (Mar. 21).