Baseball team beats Kalamazoo, 10-1; Locker has six RBIs

Olivet College senior Beau Locker (Coldwater/Union City High School) drove in six runs as the Fighting Comets defeated Kalamazoo College, 10-1, this afternoon in the first game of a weekend Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) baseball series. The teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

After the Hornets (2-23, 1-12 MIAA) scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning, freshman Chris Shelhart (Rolling Meadows, Ill./St. Viator) hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. The Comets (14-16, 6-4 MIAA) added two more runs in the second on a single by Locker.

Olivet scored three runs in the third on a RBI double to the centerfield fence by senior Ricky Strain (Livonia Churchill High School) and a two-run single down the right field line by Locker. Locker scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. Locker capped the scoring with a two-run home run over the leftfield fence in the eighth.

The Comets rapped 11 hits in the game. Locker was four-for-four with a walk, three runs and the six RBIs. Six other starters had one hit apiece. Strain and freshman Nick McIntosh (Petoskey High School) had the lone extra base hits.

On the mound, senior D.J. Celetti (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Notre Dame) pitched all nine innings and improved to 7-2 on the season. He scattered eight hits while striking out four. Defensively, the Comets turned three double plays.

Following Saturday's doubleheader, Olivet will host Manchester (Ind.) College for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 27, at 2 p.m.