SPRING ARBOR, MI – The Spring Arbor baseball team, fresh off a series sweep against Bethel, returned to the diamond Wednesday afternoon to take on Grace Christian in a non-conference doubleheader. The Cougars continued their momentum from the weekend, and dominated the Tigers in both games, outscoring them 36-6 in the two contests with 17-6 and 19-0 victories. 

 
SCORES:  
Spring Arbor 17, Grace Christian 6 
Spring Arbor 19, Grace Christian 0

LOCATION:  
Hank Burbridge Field  
RECORDS:  
Spring Arbor 23-15, Grace Christian 8-22 

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS:

Game one began with Cougar starter Brady Mitchell getting into some quick trouble, as Grace Christian quickly put a runner on third with one out via a single, stolen base and balk, and were able to bring him on an RBI single to left. Mitchell was able to escape with just one run allowed, however, striking out two Tiger hitters to end the threat. Spring Arbor responded quickly in the bottom half of the first, as Aiden Brunin singled to start the rally, stole second, and scored on a Ryan Gonzalez RBI single, tying the score at 1-1 after the first frame.  

Mitchell settled down and tossed a scoreless top of the second, setting up an offensive outburst for the Cougars in the bottom half, as they scored eight runs. Those runs came courtesy of a Joey Tessmer RBI hit by pitch, a Brunin single that brought home two, a Jake Zeeb RBI walk, and the big blow of the inning, a Brenden Phillips grand slam, which put the Cougars in the driver's seat with a 9-1 lead. The grand slam was Phillip's second in the last six games, and third home run in the same span.  

Pitching with a big lead, Mitchell tossed his best inning of the day, striking out two of the three hitters he faced in the top of the third to end his outing on a high note. In the bottom half, the Cougar offense would continue to score runs, this time from a Gonzalez RBI single and a Connor Dee sacrifice fly to extend the Cougar lead to 11-1.  

In the top of the fourth, Blake Worst came out the bullpen for the Cougars, and despite inducing a bunch of weak contact, gave up two runs on a two-run single, as Grace Christian cut into the deficit, 11-3. Despite the little sign of life from the Tigers, Spring Arbor would continue to pour it on in the bottom half of the fourth, scoring three runs on an Brunin RBI single, and Jake Spedoske RBI single, and a wild pitch that would score Spedoske to make it 14-3 in favor of the Cougars.  

In the top of the fifth, Grace Christian would continue to battle, scoring three more runs, with one coming via an RBI double, and the other two coming on an errant throw during a double play attempt, making the score 14-6. In the bottom half, the Cougars would be held scoreless for the first time all game, but Grace Christian couldn't take advantage in the top of the sixth. Spring Arbor would then add even more in the bottom half, as Spedoske drove home a run on a sacrifice fly, Dee hit one hard to the shortstop causing an error, allowing another to score, and a wild pitch allowed a third run to score in the frame, giving the Cougars a 17-6 lead. In the top of the seventh, Jared Plane would come into the game for the last inning, and did his job, stranding a one out double, and sealing the 17-6 victory for Spring Arbor.  

 
 
GAME ONE PERFORMERS 

Pitching:  

Brady Mitchell: Win, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's 

Blake Worst: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K's 

Jared Plane: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 

Hitting: 

Aiden Brunin: 5 for 5, 5 R, 3 RBI, 6 SB 

Brenden Phillips: 2 for 3, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB, HBP 

Ryan Gonzalez: 2 for 2, R, 2 RBI, BB 

Jake Zeeb: 1 for 1, R, RBI, BB 

Jake Spedoske: 1 for 2, 2 R, 2 RBI, SAC Fly 

Zach Adams: 1 for 2 

Eli DeVisser: 1 for 3, 2 R, BB, HBP 

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS: 

Game two was absolute domination by the Cougars from the beginning, as Cougar starter Josh Murphy was untouchable through two innings, not allowing a single Tiger to reach base, and striking out three. In those first two frames, the SAU offense was able to take a 4-0 lead. Phillips bringing one home on a bases loaded catcher's interference and Dee bringing another across on a bases loaded hit by pitch in the first, while Tessmer would drive one in on an RBI triple, and Gonzalez driving him in two batters later, on a sacrifice fly to center in the second. 

After Murphy's dominant performance, Braylon Essian came out of the bullpen and provided more of the same, tossing an easy 1-2-3 top of the third. In the bottom half, the Cougar offense added more runs, and some milestones along the way, as DeVisser roped a two-run home run to left, the first of his career, and Tessmer followed that up with a home run of his own, his team-leading fifth of the season. Two batters later, Gonzalez drove an RBI double over the right fielder's head to bring home another run and make it 8-0 in favor of Spring Arbor.  

In the top of the fourth, Kyle Kantola was next out of the pen for SAU, and pitched a scoreless inning of his own. In the bottom half, the Cougars would continue their offensive barrage, as Tessmer would drive home two with a single to left, Gonzalez would drive one in on another sacrifice fly, and Spedoske would push one across on a fielder's choice to make it 13-0. Kantola would toss another scoreless frame in the top of the fifth, and in the bottom half, more runs and milestones would abound, as Tessmer drove home two more with a double that gave him a cycle. Brunin would bring him home the next at bat with a single, and the next hitter, pinch hitter Ethan Orlowski, would achieve two milestones at once, recording his first career hit and home run, as he went deep to left for a two-run bomb, and extended the Cougar lead to 18-0.  

Ryan Ruhlman was next out of the pen for SAU in the top of the sixth, and continued to dominate the Tiger hitters, tossing a scoreless frame. Spring Arbor's offense would add one more run in the bottom of the inning, as Conner Barkel reached on an error, allowing Phillips to score, making it 19-0. Jack Will was the final pitcher on the docket for the Cougars, and he answered the call, shutting the door in the top of the seventh, and giving Spring Arbor the 19-0 victory.  

GAME TWO PERFORMERS: 

Pitching: 

Josh Murphy: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's 

Braylon Essian: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 

Kyle Kantola: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's 

Ryan Ruhlman: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 

Jack Will: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 

Hitting: 

Joey Tessmer: 4 for 5, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 R, 6 RBI 

Eli DeVisser: 3 for 4, HR, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB 

Jake Zeeb: 2 for 2, 2B, BB 

Aiden Brunin: 2 for 4, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB 

Ethan Orlowski: 1 for 1, HR, R, 2 RBI 

Ryan Gonzalez: 1 for 1, 2B, R, 3 RBI, SB, HBP, 2 SAC Flies 

Braydon Gregory: 1 for 3, 2B, 3 R, 2 HBP 

Connor Dee: 1 for 2, R, RBI, HBP 

UP NEXT 
Spring Arbor will be back on Hank Burbridge Field this weekend for their final home set of the season, in a Crossroads League matchup with Saint Francis. The four-game tilt will begin on Friday, April 11th with a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM