Wyoming, MI - Grace Baseball hosted the Albion College Britons Monday afternoon as a makeup date from games that were canceled over the weekend due to snow. It was a doubleheader that saw ups and downs but ended with a spark that created a special night for the Tigers. 

Game One

The day began with a slow start for Grace as the Tigers quickly dropped to a four run deficit after two innings. Grace's bats were cold and Albion continued to extend their lead with three more runs in the third inning, and two more in the fourth inning. Haydon Koepke and Carter Willis came in to pitch in relief and were able to stop the bleeding, throwing 4 combined innings and holding the Britons scoreless after the fourth inning. Willis would strike out the side in his sole inning of work. 

The offense finally got on the board in the 6th inning as Jared Garnaat came around to score on a ball in play by Royce Frieburger. However, nothing more was gained, and Grace fell by a score of 1-9. Starting pitcher Matt Hoonhorst took the loss for Grace.

Game Two

Grace had renewed energy in the nightcap, battling back after Albion cranked a two-run homerun in the top of the first. The Tigers responded with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the second to take their first lead of the day. Albion scraped back with a run in both the third and fourth innings to knot the score at 4-4. Lorenzo Lopez came out of the bullpen for Grace and fired 2.2 innings giving up just 1 unearned run with 3 strikeouts to keep the Tigers right there. Junior Brendan Bos came in after Lopez and held Grace within striking position as the game went on. 

Down 4-5 in the bottom of the 7th, it was down to the last out for Grace as Tyler Thomas stepped up to the plate with two runners on base. A soft line drive into right field scored Eric Whiting and sent the game into extra innings. Bos stayed on the mound and fired a scoreless frame in the 8th, giving the Tigers a chance to win it in the bottom half of the inning. Dale Westphal led the inning off with a base hit, but Grace was unable to bring him around to score, and the game went into the 9th. 

Albion found a way to push across the go-ahead run in the top of the inning, making the score 5-6 in favor of Albion going into the home half of the inning. Down to their last chance, Carter Willis sent a missile to left-center field for a game-tying homerun. Damian Fernandez followed up with a single up the middle, making his way to third base after an error and a wild pitch. Tyler Thomas would have another chance to be the hero in this game as he stepped up with one out. In a 1-1 count, Tyler found a barrel and laced a line drive back up the middle for a walk off base hit, and the Tigers won by a final score of 7-6.

With the split on the day, Grace brings their overall record to 6-19. The Tigers are now 4-1 in their last five games and are finding their stride. Grace plays again at home on Thursday against Indiana University Purdue University Columbus out of Indiana at 1pm and 4pm. Come catch some more action from Grace Christian Baseball!