SPRING ARBOR, MI – The Spring Arbor baseball team returned home to Hank Burbridge Field on Friday afternoon for a doubleheader against Bethel to begin their four-game Crossroads League set with the Pilots. The Cougars fell behind quickly in game one, as Bethel pushed one across in the first inning, but Spring Arbor responded right away, scoring four runs in the first inning on a grand slam, and adding another grand slam in a nine-run fourth inning to run away with the 15-2 victory. In game two, Spring Arbor took the early lead, but Bethel would gain the edge with a three-run top of the second. The game stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth, when the Cougars tied it at three apiece with a two-run frame. Cougar reliever Colin Snyder continued to throw up zeroes, and the offense broke through again with a two-run sixth to take a 5-3 lead, which would be the final score, as Spring Arbor would sweep the day.  

 
SCORES:  
Spring Arbor 15, Bethel 2 
Spring Arbor 5, Bethel 3 

LOCATION:  
Hank Burbridge Field  

RECORDS:  
Spring Arbor 19-15, 11-11 Bethel 10-20, 5-17 

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS: 

Game one began with quite a bit of offense, as Bethel struck first in the top of the first, using an infield single and a double to take an early 1-0 lead. That lead would be short lived however with Spring Arbor immediately loading the bases in the bottom half, as Joey Tessmer reached on a dropped third strike, Aiden Brunin singled and Ryan Gonzalez was hit by a pitch. That brought Landon Raczkowski to the dish, and he brought them all home, sending a grand slam over the bullpen in left to give Spring Arbor an early 4-1 lead.  

Both teams would go scoreless in the second and third innings, as Cougar starter John Hojnowski struck out the side in the top of the second, and continued to cruise until the fourth, where Bethel would strike again, using a single and another RBI double to pull within two, 4-2. In the bottom half of the fourth, Spring Arbor would once again respond, exploding for nine runs in the frame via a Tessmer RBI single, a wild pitch that scored Eli DeVisser, a Raczkowski two-run single, a Brenden Phillips grand slam, the big blow of the inning, and a Tessmer stolen base that scored DeVisser on the throw, giving Spring Arbor complete control of the contest, 13-2.  

Hojnowski would once again strike out the side in the top of the fifth, and the Cougars would get right back to work in the bottom half, as Phillips added on to his already big day, driving in two more with a bloop double to left center to extend the Cougar lead to 15-2.  

Both teams would go scoreless in the sixth, and Hojnowski would seal the run-rule victory for Spring Arbor with a scoreless seventh, giving Spring Arbor the victory and tossing the third complete game of his career  

GAME ONE PERFORMERS 

Pitching:  

John Hojnowski: Win, 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K 

Hitting: 

Landon Raczkowski: 3 for 3, HR, 2B, 3 R, 6 RBI, BB, SB 

Brenden Phillips: 2 for 3, HR, 2B, R, 6 RBI, HBP, SB 

Eli DeVisser: 2 for 3, 2 R, BB, SB 

Aiden Brunin: 2 for 4, 2 R 

Joey Tessmer: 2 for 4, 2 R, RBI, SB 

Ryan Gonzalez: 1 for 2, 3 R, 2 HBP 

Conner Barkel: 1 for 4, R 

Braydon Gregory: 1 for 1, 3B 

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS: 

Game two started out in favor of the Cougars, as starter Josh Murphy worked through trouble to toss a scoreless top half, and Spring Arbor took an early lead in the bottom half, as Tessmer scored on a wild pitch to go up 1-0. That lead would be short lived however, as Bethel would take it themselves with a two-out triple that brought home two, and would bring a third home as well, as an errant throw trying to nab the Bethel hitter going for the triple snuck into the dugout, allowing him to score, and giving the Pilots a 3-1 lead.  

The Cougars would threaten in the bottom of the second, but did not score, and both teams would go scoreless in the third, before the Spring Arbor offense would find some life again in the fourth, tying the score at 3-3 on a DeVisser RBI groundout and a Brunin RBI single. 

The two teams would trade zeroes in the fifth, and Bethel would be held scoreless in the top of the sixth as well by reliever Colin Snyder, before the Cougar offense got to work again, using a DeVisser infield single, Tessmer single, and Brunin two-run single to take a 5-3 lead. Snyder would come back out for the top of the seventh and shut the door, sealing the 5-3 victory, and doubleheader sweep for Spring Arbor.  

GAME TWO PERFORMERS: 

Pitching: 

Josh Murphy: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's 

Colin Snyder: Win, 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's 

Hitting: 

Aiden Brunin: 2 for 4, 2 RBI, 2 SB 

Joey Tessmer: 2 for 4, 2 R, 2 SB 

Brenden Phillips: 1 for 3, 2B 

Eli DeVisser: 1 for 3, R, RBI 

Zach Adams: 1 for 3 

Landon Raczkowski: 1 for 3 

UP NEXT 
Spring Arbor will conclude their four-game series against the Pilots with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Hank Burbridge Field. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM