Jack Radzville
MEN’S LACROSSE
Jack Radzville’s skillful game sparked a breakthrough victory for the Hope College men’s lacrosse team. The junior made a little history for himself in the process, too.
Led by their high-scoring attacker, the Flying Dutchmen defeated Benedictine University (Illinois), 22-17, on Friday in Bloomington, Illinois for their first NCAA Division III Tournament victory.
Hope (13-1 overall) advanced to play host Illinois Wesleyan University in the second round on Saturday, May 15 at 2 p.m. Central. Illinois Wesleyan (14-1) was a 30-8, first-round winner vs. the University of Northwestern (Minnesota) in Friday’s first game.
This is Hope’s second postseason appearance and first since an overtime first-round loss in 2019. Head coach Michael Schanhals, a former club player, oversaw the Flying Dutchmen’s transition from club to varsity 10 years ago and directed their rise into a national-caliber program.
“They have worked tremendously hard to get us to this point,” said Schanhals, who was joined by co-captains Luke Elder, Jack Radzville and Tucker Martinez in the postgame press conference. “I could not be more proud of them. There are guys who played in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and on who are fired up about this victory. This is for you all.”
BASEBALL
Hope College used a record-setting offensive explosion Friday afternoon to clinch a berth in the championship series of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Baseball Tournament.
The Flying Dutchmen scored in all but one inning, defeating the Britons, 24-14, on Friday at Boeve Stadium to win Pool B of the MIAA tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. Hope pounded out 23 hits off eight Albion College pitchers.
The 24 runs set an MIAA tournament single-game record, breaking the previous mark of 18 scored by Calvin University in an 18-2 win over Hope in 2017.
Second-seeded Hope, now 25-13 on the season, has won 14 consecutive games. The Flying Dutchmen will face top seed Adrian College in a best-of-3 championship series that begins with a single game Wednesday, May 19 at Nicolay Field in Adrian. Game two and an if-necessary third game are scheduled for Thursday, May 20 at Adrian.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
The Hope College women’s tennis team had a hard-fought battle down to the third set of the No. 6 singles match before falling, 5-4, to Linfield University (Oregon) during the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday in Rome, Georgia.
Linfield (13-2) earned its first NCAA Tournament win and advanced to a third-round match against defending national champion Wesleyan University (Connecticut) on Saturday, May 15.
The MIAA champion Flying Dutch finished with a 12-3 overall record.
Despite the loss, Head coach Bob Cawood liked how his team competed after falling behind 2-1 in doubles.
“Linfield set the tone for having an uphill battle in singles,” Cawood said. “I want to stress how proud I am for how they competed. For us to be able to put ourselves in position to be up 4-3, that was big. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get one last point.
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