KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Trine University baseball team lost their first two Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) games of the season on Saturday afternoon when the Kalamazoo College Hornets swept the Thunder in a doubleheader. Kalamazoo topped Trine 14-3 and 14-4 in seven innings.
The Thunder are 13-11 overall and 4-2 in league play following the losses. The Hornets sit at 15-6 and 3-1 coming off the series victory.
GAME ONE RECAP:
It was consecutive 1-2-3 innings for the starting pitcher Cam Nagel to begin play on Saturday afternoon, but a massive six-run third inning put Kalamazoo in front. The Hornets would follow that up with an additional run in the fourth, another six-run frame in the fifth and one more in the sixth to claim a 14-0 lead.
Double plays would doom the Trine offense as the Thunder were able to put a runner on base in each inning. The top of the seventh would be the first time that the bats would come through to plate a run for the team.
Brody Bond drew a one-out walk to begin the carousel and Jackson O'Keefe followed him with a pinch hit single to left. Matthew Martin loaded the bases with good eyes at the dish for a walk and the trio would advance a base on a passed ball. Tyler Beyke filled the open space on first with a walk as well and a sacrifice fly by Robert Kortas made it 14-2. An error kept the ducks on the pond and a fourth walk in the inning plated a third run, this time by Cory Erbskorn.
The late rally would not be enough to extend the contest as Trine fell by a score of 14-3 in seven innings. Erbskorn was able to reach base in all four plate appearances with two hits and two walks as well as driving in a run. The final spot in the batting order was occupied by Daniel Rumberger and O'Keefe who combined for a 3-for-3 effort. Nagel (3-3), Joseph Closson and Michael Brucker had two punchouts each on the mound.
GAME TWO RECAP:
The rubber match of the series began strong for Trine with a pair of first inning runs scored. Avery Fulford was on base for Kortas to bring home with a double to right field. Kortas would score when the next batter, Dalton Nikirk, hit a single to the same side of the field.
The lead would be short lived, however as the home team continued to put crooked numbers up on the scoreboard. Through the first inning, the score read 5-2 in favor of the Hornets. Kalamazoo extended the lead with three runs in the second as well to chase Kade Keele (0-3) from the ballgame.
Trailing 8-2 in the fourth, the Thunder got a quick burst of offense from the cleanup hitter Erbskorn with a solo homerun over the left center field fence. It was his second longball of the 2023 campaign. Three unearned runs crossed the plate for Kalamazoo in the bottom half of the inning that worsened the deficit to 11-3. The Hornets added on two more in the fifth as well thanks to four walks in the inning.
A fielding error forced Kalamazoo to bat in the seventh with a nine-run lead, but the Hornets would score to make it 14-4 and end the game in the seventh due to the run-rule. Bond had multiple hits for the team at 2-for-4 as the designated hitter and Tyler Robinson recorded a hit in his pinch-hit appearance.
Dominic Skinner had a scoreless inning of work where he struck out three and allowed one hit. Drew Basso tossed two innings and allowed one run while striking out two.
Trine will wrap up their series with Olivet College on Monday, April 10. That game was rescheduled from its original date of April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.