ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University baseball team dropped a pair of Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) to Kalamazoo College on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder (8-13) were defeated in game one 5-2 and suffered a run-rule loss to the Hornets (11-7) 18-5 in eight innings.
GAME ONE RECAP:
Trine utilized an error and an RBI single up the middle by Adam Stefanelli [Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North] to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in game number one. Catcher Quin Fauquher [Muncie, Ind. / Yorktown] extended the gap in the second with an RBI single of his own.
Meanwhile on the other side of the mound, starting pitcher Josh Hoogewerf [Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point] retired the first nine Kalamazoo hitters of the ballgame. A walk to lead off the fourth inning would be erased by a pickoff move. The first hit for the Hornets would not come until the fifth inning, but a series of plays by the middle infield, including a snag by Avery Fulford [Conifer, Colo. / Conifer] on a screaming liner, would keep the zero in the run column.
The top of the sixth saw a bit of traffic on the basepaths, but with the bases juiced, Hoogewerf induced a 5-4-3 double play to escape the scoring threat. The Thunder would load the bases themselves in the bottom half, but left them all aboard. The same trio of Stefanelli, Fulford and Dalton Nikirk [Bedford, Ind. / Bedford North Lawrence] were called upon for a double play in the top of the seventh as well.
A sacrifice fly by the Kalamazoo cut the Trine lead in half at 2-1, and the top of the ninth inning saw four more runs come across to pull away for the 5-2 victory. Hoogewerf's book would close at 7.1 innings pitched with three punchouts. Reliever Noah Brettin [Rolling Prairie, Ind. / New Prairie] received the loss (1-1) after missing out on a save.
In the batter's box, the Thunder scattered six hits among six different players. Stefanelli was 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt.
GAME TWO RECAP:
It was a tumultuous start for Trine in game two as the Hornets brought two across on one hit in the top of the first.
The bottom of the second saw the Thunder get it all back. Gary DeMartino [Beavercreek, Ohio / Owens C.C.] and Easton Rhodes [Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb] led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Jackson O'Keefe [Saline, Mich. / Saline / Owens CC] drew a walk to load the bases, and Stefanelli brought in a run with a single up the middle. Following a pitching change, Preston Henschen [Fort Wayne, Ind. / Columbia City] knocked in a run via a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
A flare single by Stefanelli once more in the third would drive in the go-ahead run and give him two RBIs in the game.
Unfortunately, the visitors would plate nine over the course of the fourth and fifth innings to claim an 11-4 advantage. Matthew Martin [Eureka, Ill. / Eureka] reached on an error that scored a run, but it was not enough to overcome a seven-run eighth inning by Kalamazoo to secure the run-rule win, 18-5.
Stefanelli was 2-for-2 with two RBIs in the back half and Brenden Warner [Richland, Mich. / Hackett Catholic Prep] had multiple hits as well. Rhodes, O'Keefe and Tyler Robinson [Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg] each reached base three times with two base on balls each. Bryce Bloode [New Carlisle, Ind. / New Prairie] was the losing pitcher (1-5) in game two.
The series concludes on Monday, April 11 with a 4 pm first pitch at Kalamazoo.
