HOLLAND, Mich.-- The Trine baseball team split a doubleheader with Hope in MIAA-action Friday afternoon at Boeve Stadium.
A gem of a start from pitcher Ben Wheaton (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Hackett Catholic Central) led the Thunder to a 6-1 victory in game one. Coty Franklin responded with a strong outing of his own to lead the Flying Dutchmen to the 5-2 victory in game two. Trine's Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio / Indian Hill) extended his hitting-streak to 15 games on a day in which he totaled three hits, three runs scored, one walk and two RBIs. The Thunder remained in second place in the MIAA with a 12-6 mark in league action. Hope remained one game back in the conference standings at 11-7 in conference play. Each team is 16-13 overall.
Game One: Trine 6, Hope 1
Wheaton's effort on the mound led the way for the Thunder in the game one victory.
The Dutch were held without a hit until a two-out single in the fifth by JP Batts, which snapped a string of 11-straight retired by Wheaton. The only baserunners to that point had come on an error, a walk and batter who reached on a wild pitch following a strikeout. Wheaton's final line totaled six innings of work with three hits and one earned run allowed. He walked two and struck out three to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Conn set the table for three Thunder rallies, beginning with Trine's first run in the opening inning. Conn started the inning with a leadoff walk and later scored on Bob Ross' (Valparaiso, Ind. / Washington Township) RBI-single. A one-out double by Conn set the stage for the Thunder to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth. With two outs, Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wis. / Hartford Union) singled to bring home Conn and give Trine a two-run advantage.
A triple by J.J. LaBounty (Avon, Ind. / Covenant Christian) in the top of the sixth resulted in two runs, as Ross scored on the three-bagger. An error by the third baseman allowed LaBounty to score as well, making the Trine lead 4-0.
The Thunder tacked on two more runs in the ninth. Conn scored on a wild pitch, and Ross singled through the right side to drive in another run.
Hope scored its lone run against Wheaton as the Dutch strung together a rally on a walk and two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Brower's RBI-single broke up Wheaton's shutout bid.
Ross had three hits in game one, while Conn, LaBounty and Palmer each added two base hits to account for nine of Trine's 10 hits in the game.
Game Two: Hope 5, Trine 2
A strong outing by Franklin held the Thunder bats in check as the Flying Dutchmen took the nightcap.
Franklin was charged with two earned runs on four hits in 7.2 innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out three on his way to improving to 4-1 on the season.
The Dutch scored the first four runs of the contest, with two coming in the first. An RBI-groundout by Brad Kotentko plated the first run. Hope's second run came on an error. Brady VanderWeele doubled home a run and later scored on a wild pitch as part of a two-run seventh to make the score 4-0.
The Thunder was able to mount a rally in the eighth. Jake Kendall (New Castle, Ind. / New Castle) tripled home Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind. / Portage) to get Trine on the board. Conn's RBI-single scored Thorn to cut the score to 4-2. Dutch closer Matt Glowacki worked out of trouble to keep the score there.
Hope added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a sac fly by Andrew Zawacki. Glowacki held the Thunder scoreless in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the year.
The two teams conclude the MIAA series tomorrow at Jannen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.