April 21, 2012

Baseball team drops two close games at Trine (Ind.)

ANGOLA, Ind. – The Olivet College baseball team was swept by Trine (Ind.) University in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader this afternoon at Jannen Field in Angola, Ind. The teams will wrap-up the four-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, beginning at 1 p.m.

In the first game, the Comets scored an unearned run in the first inning. The Thunder answered with the only runs they would need in the bottom half of the inning. Trine batted around and scored five times. Olivet got one run back in the fifth and had the bases loaded in the seventh, but could not draw any closer.

Overall for the game, the Comets were held to seven hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from junior Randy Young (Wixom/Walled Lake Western). Four other players each had one single. Junior Jay Magro (Bridgman) suffered the pitching loss. He gave up the five earned runs on 10 hits over six innings.

In the second game, Olivet jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Freshman Drew Thompson (Canton/Plymouth) hit a leadoff double, went to third on a flyout and scored on a single up the middle by Young. The same two players helped the Comets push across another run in the third. Thompson singled, advanced to second on a single from freshman Peter Panos (Davison) and scored on a single by Young.

Trine cut its deficit in half with a run in the bottom half of the third. The Comets scratched across an unearned run in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. The Thunder scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 6-6. In the seventh, Matt Zurbriggen hit a walk-off single to score the winning run.

Olivet had eight hits in the game, with Thompson and Young each going 2-for-3 and junior Justin Pitt (Imlay City) also collecting two hits. Two others had one hit apiece. On the mound, senior Sean Alexander (Fenton) was charged with the loss. He allowed the four runs on 11 hits, while striking out four and walking one.