OLIVET, Mich. – Albion College continued its quest of securing a berth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Baseball Tournament by sweeping a Sunday doubleheader from Olivet College by scores of 7-1 and 4-3.
The Britons, winners of its last four games against league rivals, reached the .500 mark (11-11) in league play and are tied with Kalamazoo College for fourth place in the standings. Albion has three doubleheaders remaining – a home date against Olivet College scheduled for April 28 and a four-game series with Alma College – while the Hornets have four games against Trine (Ind.) University. The Britons own the head-to-head tiebreaker by winning three of the four games against Kalamazoo.
"We're getting hot at the right time," Albion Head Coach Scott Carden said. "We're going to do everything we can to play Olivet tomorrow."
Starting pitchers Craig Conway and Dylan Woolley threw complete games.
Conway (4-2) allowed only one runner to reach second base after Olivet scored its run in the second inning of game one. His final line included four hits, three walks, and a season-high eight strikeouts.
Woolley (4-3) retired the last eight batters in order. He allowed seven hits while striking out four.
Right fielder Michael Fischbach rapped three hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored twice in game one. Shortstop Davin Montgomery also scored twice.
Albion forged a 2-2 tie in the second inning of game two when Spencer Bonofiglio scored on Ben Crawford's ground out and Kyle Kowal scampered home on a passed ball. Bonofiglio hit a RBI as Shane Lindemann scored to give Albion a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Olivet scored in its half of the fifth and the score remained tied in the seventh. Montgomery drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and advanced to third on sacrifice hits by Bonofiglio and Kowal. Dan Mills collected the game-winning RBI with a single through the left side of the infield.
"Dan put a great swing on a good pitch," Carden said. "He had a rough day but he came through when it counted."
Albion hit .250 (13-for-52) in the doubleheader. Crawford went 3-for-6 at the plate, and Bonofiglio and Lee Madziar each finished the day with .429 on base percentages. Madziar twice reached base when he was hit by pitches and Bonofiglio drew a walk and was hit by a pitch.
"I thought we took good at bats overall," Carden said. "I think we started pressing in the second game. We were trying to make contact instead of trying to get hits."