ALMA, Mich. -- The Trine baseball team was swept by Alma in the series-opener between the two teams Saturday afternoon at Klenk Park.
The Scots scored two runs in the seventh and added the winning run in the eighth to earn an 8-7 victory in extra-innings in the opener. Alma followed that up with a 14-hit performance to take game two, 10-1. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wis. / Hartford Union) further cemented his place in the Thunder record books with a four-hit, three-RBI day. Palmer became the school's all-time career leader with 33 doubles and moved into third in program history with his 10th career homer. He also moved into a tie for fourth in the record books with 79 career RBIs.
The losses dropped Trine's record to 12-7 overall, 6-4 in conference play. The Scots improved to 7-15 overall and evened their conference mark at 5-5.
Game One: Alma 8, Trine 7 (8)
The Thunder took the lead with two runs in the sixth, but the Scots rallied back for the walk-off win.
Palmer made his mark early, doubling in the first run of the game in the top of the first. He later added a two-run homer in the sixth to give Trine a 7-5 lead. The homer was Palmer's fifth of the season, tied with two others for fifth in the history of Thunder baseball. Palmer entered the weekend ranked 18th in the nation in slugging percentage and notched four more extra-base hits today. He had three hits and three RBIs in game one.
Jacob Heller (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Prairie Heights) knocked home a pair of runs in the top of the third for Trine. Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio / Indian Hill) drove in a run with a RBI triple and later scored on a passed ball, both in the top of the fourth. Conn extended his hitting streak to eight games with a hit in each end of the doubleheader.
The Cots kept pace with two runs in the second, one in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Jared Koin doubled home a run and scored on a wild pitch in the second. Patrick Finn added an RBI-double in the fourth, while Greg Goffee added a RBI-triple and scored in the fifth.
Singles by Max Trucks and Goffee set the stage for the seventh-inning Alma rally. A Ben Finzel sac fly cut the score to 7-6 with one out. After a groundout left the Scots facing their final out, an error brought home the tying run.
A leadoff error in the bottom of the eighth came around to score as Matthew Minaudo scored on RBI double for the walk-off win.
Trucks had four hits and an RBI in the game, while Goffee and Koin each notched three hits and an RBI.
Game Two: Alma 10, Trine 1
The Scots scored early and put things away with six runs in the sixth to claim the game two victory.
Goffee singled home two as part of a three-run second to get Alma on the board. He later added a two-run double in the sixth. An error and a Matthew Minaudo RBI-single brought home two more runs in the early stages as the Scots built a 4-1 lead through three.
Conn's RBI-single in the top of the third scored the lone Thunder run of game two. Trine was held to just three hits in the game.
In addition to Goffee's two RBIs in the sixth, Trucks, Finzel and Alex Peczynski added run-scoring hits in the inning. The Scots totaled 14 hits in game two and 27 overall in the doubleheader.
Mike Mallory earned the victory for Alma, tossing the complete game. He allowed one earned run on three hits, walked two and struck out seven to improve to 2-2.
The two teams conclude the MIAA series tomorrow at Jannen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.