ANGOLA, Ind.—The Trine baseball team fell to Kalamazoo on Saturday in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association doubleheader.
The Thunder moves to 14-11 overall and 8-8 against the MIAA. Kalamazoo improves to 17-8 and 10-6 in conference action.
Jacob Heller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Prairie Heights) led the Thunder on the day with four hits and two RBI, while Kevin O'Malley (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Central) had two hits and four RBI, including his first career home run in game one that drove in two runs.
GAME ONE: Kalamazoo 7, Trine 4
Heller notched two hits in game one and drove in one run. O'Malley's home run drove in two runs for the Thunder, while Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) had a RBI for Trine. Grant Frankland (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) went four and two third innings taking the loss on the mound for Trine.
Kalamazoo was led by Connor Grant with two hits and two RBI, while Brett Garwood and Alex Felt each had two hits and drove in one run. Jacob Gilhaus earned the win going five and a third inning, striking out five batters.
After three scoreless innings, Clark reached base on a Thunder error and advanced to second base. Grant singled to right centerfield to drive in the Hornets' first run to grab the lead.
In the top of the fifth, Kalamazoo drove in six runs off seven hits and one error.
In the bottom of the inning, Colton Conn led off with a single to right field. O'Malley drove in two runs with his homer over the left field fence.
In the bottom of the sixth, Heller led off with an infield single. Heller advanced to second off a wild pitch. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) walked, and Jake LaBounty (Avon, Ind./Covenant Christian) loaded the bases with an infield single to shortstop. The Hornets went to their bullpen to bring Swanson in to pitch. Conn drove in a run when he grounded out to first base.
Zach Schulte (Sterling Heights, Mich./Warren Cousino) led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to right. With two outs, Heller singled to centerfield to drive in the Thunder's final run of the game.
GAME TWO: Kalamazoo 18, Trine 3
Ben Pritchett (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) notched three hits for the Thunder in game two. Palmer had two hits and drove in a run. Heller and Robert Ross (Valparaiso, Ind./Washington Township) each added two hits for Trine. O'Malley's grabbed one hit and drove in two runs. Four Thunder batters earned extra bases with doubles including Heller, Ross, Chase Mahoy (Darlington, Ind./North Montgomery) and Pritchett.
Kalamazoo was led by Alex Fultz and Mitch VanKoevering with three hits each. VanKoevering and Ian Kobernick each drove in three runs for Kalamazoo. Nic Janssen earned the win for the Hornets pitching five innings and striking out three Thunder batters. The Kalamazoo bullpen combined to strike out 10 batters.
Kalamazoo held a two run lead after driving in a runner in the first and second innings.
The Thunder tied the game in the bottom of the third. Palmer led off with a single through the right side. With two outs, Ross doubled down the right field line. O'Malley singled through the right side to drive in two runs and tie the game.
The Hornets drove in nine runs in the top of the fourth off five hits and one error to take an 11-2 lead. Kalamazoo combined to score seven more runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to win the game 18-3.
The Thunder will continue home MIAA action Friday when it will play host to Hope for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Jannen Field.