REPORT FOR TUESDAY, MAY, 2001
BASEBALL
The opener of this week's Calvin-Hope baseball series was billed as a pitcher's
duel but instead the contest turned into a slugfest with the homestanding Flying
Dutchmen outlasting the Knights 10-7 Tuesday afternoon in Holland.
With the win, Hope improved to 20-12 overall and more importantly to 11-2 in the
MIAA while Calvin dipped to 20-15 overall and to 11-5 in the league. The two
teams will square off again in a doubleheader Wednesday at 2:00 pm. Hope can
clinch a share of the MIAA title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III
Tournament with a win in either game Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Calvin and Hope combined for 30 hits including six
homeruns on the afternoon as strong winds blowing to rightfield turned the Buys
Athletic Complex into a hitter's paradise.
The contest matched two of the best pitchers in the MIAA in Calvin junior Mike
Ott (Grand Rapids Union) and Hope senior Nate DeVisser. Both pitchers were
chased from the mound by seventh inning rallies however.
Trailing 4-3 in the top of the seventh, Calvin mounted a two-out rally that
produced four runs with senior Aaron Wiers (Chicago, IL) blasting a three-run
bomb to right-center that gave the Knights a 7-4 lead. Junior Ben Dykhouse
(Grand Rapids Christian) had knotted the score at 4-4 on a two-out RBI single to
right and Wiers followed with his three-run blast to score Dykhouse and junior
Mark Jansen (Denver, CO) who had also singled in the inning.
Hope came right back with five runs in the bottom of the seventh with four of
the runs coming with two outs. Calvin nearly got out of the inning on a
double-play attempt that ended on a fielder's choice, leaving two runners on
with two out. The Flying Dutchmen were then able to string together five
straight hits that scored four runs to take a 9-7 lead.
Hope added an insurance run in the top of the eighth to go up 10-7 and made the
three-run lead hold up as Hope relief pitcher Matt Widenmier stranded a pair of
Calvin runners in the top of the ninth to pick up the victory in relief.
Ott took the loss for Calvin to 5-3 on the year with junior Matt Schmitz (Ionia)
and senior Adam Marcionetti (Oak Park, IL) also seeing time in relief.
Calvin finished with 13 hits with senior Dirk Eppinga (Walnut Creek, CA) leading
the attack as he went 3-for-5 including a solo homerun in the top of the second
that gave the Knights a momentary 1-0 lead. Wiers also went 2-for-4 including
his fifth and six homeruns of the year. Wiers belted his first roundtripper in
the sixth, landing a solo shot over the left-field fence that allowed the
Knights to pull to within a run a 4-3.
Seniors Ross Hunderman (Holland Christian) and Jason TeBos (Calvin Christian)
also collected two hits apiece for Calvin.
Wednesday's doubleheader will see Wiers throw the opener and senior Ryan
Wolthuis (South Christian) throw in the nightcap.
-end
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