KALAMAZOO, Mich.-- The Trine baseball team capped off a four-game sweep of Kalamazoo with a pair of victories in MIAA-action Saturday afternoon at Woodworth Field.
The Thunder withstood a late Hornet rally in game one to earn the 5-3 victory. Trine used a four-run seventh to come out on top of a see-saw affair in game two, 9-5. The four-game sweep was the first for the Thunder since back-to-back conference sweeps of Olivet and Kalamazoo in 2012. Seniors Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) and Kyle Auernhamer (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) each picked up three RBIs on the afternoon. Trine concludes the season 18-22 overall and 13-15 in the MIAA. Kalamazoo is 20-20 overall, 15-13 in conference play.
Game One: Trine 5, Kalamazoo 3
Single runs in the fourth-through-seventh innings pulled the Thunder away to earn the victory.
Trine struck first in the top of the first on an RBI-groundout by Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union). Kalamazoo answered that run in the third on an RBI-single by Ian Kobernick.
Baer, Auernhamer and Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) each plated runs with RBI-singles to push the score to 4-1 through six. Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) added an RBI-double in the seventh for another insurance run.
Baer's RBI-single moved him into second in RBIs at Trine in the Division-III era (2005-present). He finished his career with 75 RBIs.
The Hornets got two runs in the seventh, but Jake Weimer (Pittsboro, Ind./Brownsburg) entered to nail down the save.
Eddie Tomich (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) picked up his fourth victory of the season in his final career start. The senior scattered 10 hits and allowed three earned runs, walked one and struck out three over six-plus innings of work. Tomich became the fifth pitcher at Trine in the Division III-era to win 10 or more games with his 10th-career victory.
Jake Kendall (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) notched two hits in game one.
Game Two: Trine 9, Kalamazoo 5
A four-run seventh broke open a back-and-forth game and led the Thunder to the sweep.
Trine put two on with none out for Baer, who plated two runs and picked up one RBI with a single. The second run scored on an error, as Baer moved up into scoring position. Auernhamer followed with his final RBI-hit of the day.
After a sac bunt, Ben Pritchett (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) singled to center to score the final run of the day for the Thunder. Pritchett notched his first-career three-hit game in game two.
Each team answered rallies the whole game to get to the situation in the seventh. Trine struck twice in the first, which Kalamazoo responded with in the second. The two teams traded two run third-innings and the Hornets answered Trine's run in the fourth with a run in the fifth.
Baer and Auernhamer each knocked in two in the second game. Kendall, Palmer and Jake LaBounty (Avon, Ind./Covenant Christian) each picked up one RBI in the game.
Palmer picked up his 14th double of the season to move into second in a single-season in the Division-III era at Trine.
Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) picked up one hit in the doubleheader to bring his Division-III era Trine record to 153 career hits.
Ben Wheaton (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett Catholic Central) picked up the victory on the mound in his hometown, while Shaun Seigneur (Grove City, Ohio/Central Crossing) notched his second-career save.