by Alan Babbitt
Evan Maday launched a fourth-inning fastball 345 feet over the right-field fence at Boeve Stadium to achieve a Hope College baseball milestone in memorable fashion.
Maday became the first member of the Flying Dutch to achieve 200 career hits during Friday's 11-2 victory against Olivet College.
The left-handed hitting center fielder went 4-for-6 against the Comets with two home runs and a team-leading four RBIs. Maday's third hit also gave him his second multi-homer game; matching his feat during a 17-6 victory at Alma College on April 17, 2021.
"I'm incredibly happy for him," head coach Stu Fritz said. "I've said it time and time again he's one of the hardest workers in our program, but he's an even better human being. I've been doing this a long time, but he's special. It's special for him to make the commitment to comeback for his fifth year in our program. It's cool to see him have some accolades."
Four-hit days from Maday and senior shortstop Brant Kym (Libertyville, Illinois / Libertyville) powered a 16-hit attack for the Flying Dutchmen. Kym went 4-for-4 with runs scored during the nine-inning, series opener. The weekend series is scheduled to continue on Saturday, April 16, with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Olivet.
Winning pitcher Sean Hoey struck out nine for Hope, one of his season-high. The senior righthander scattered six hits and one run over seven innings of work. Hoey (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) is now 4-0 on the season.
"We just have a lot of confience in Sean when he's on the mound. We have a lot of confience in all of our pitchers, but Sean has been dominant," Fritz said. "I think it's super important to come out and do what I think we're capable of doing, and we did. We talk about the where and when way more than the who. We just need to play the next game, whomever that is, and perform well. We did today."
Maday answered the call.
In six at-bats, the civil engineering major singled in the first, blasted a solo homer up the right-center cap in the third, homered again in the fourth, and laced an RBI single in the seventh.
After 143 games, Maday has 201 hits, including 16 home runs, 16 triples, 31 doubles, and 138 singles. He has a .374 career batting average.
Maday is among those student-athletes the NCAA granted an extra year of athletic eligiblity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He only played three games before the 2020 season that was canceled.
At Hope, Maday already ranks first in career hits, triples, runs scored, total bases, and stolen bases.
"It's a ton of God-given talent and just hard work," Fritz said of Maday. "It's what he does when nobody's watching. He's played at a high level in the summer, too, and continues to push himself to be better. (The 200-hit milestone) doesn't come as a surprise."