REPORT FOR MAY 8, 2002
BASEBALL CAPTURES 2002 MIAA TITLE
Heading into its regular season ending series with rival Hope, Calvin faced a
mountainous task in its quest for an MIAA title. In order to claim the crown,
the Knights needed a three-game sweep over the nationally-ranked Flying Dutchmen
who carried a 26-game win streak into the three-game set. One loss and the MIAA
title would belong to Hope.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Knights slipped on their climbing boots and
crampons and one game at a time, reached the top of the mountain, winning all
three games from the Flying Dutchmen to capture the MIAA title. The MIAA title
is the second in the last three years for the Calvin baseball team including its
seventh overall. In addition, Calvin (28-11 overall) gains the MIAA's
automatic bid to next week's NCAA III Tournament with the conference crown.
With the three-game sweep, Calvin finished the MIAA season with a 16-2 record,
one game ahead of 15-3 Hope. The 16 victories by Calvin is a high-water mark
for the Knights in conference play.
All three Calvin victories came in come-from-behind fashion as the Knights kept
climbing back into each game with clutch pitching, hitting and defense. Calvin
opened the series with a 10-3 victory Tuesday afternoon in front of more than
300 sun-drenched fans at Calvin Field.
On Wednesday, the weather turned cold and dreary with intermittent rain showers
soaking the field. Nevertheless, the Knights found a way to shake off the
elements to gain a 7-2 victory in the opener and a 5-4 win in the rubber game of
the series to complete the sweep.
In game one Wednesday afternoon, Calvin rode the right arm of senior pitcher
Mike Ott (Grand Rapids Union) who battled through six innings to put the Knights
in position to win. Hope got on the scoreboard first as junior first baseman
B.J. Maas belted a mammoth two-out, two-run homer to left that gave the Flying
Dutchmen a 2-0 lead. Calvin answered however with six runs in the bottom of the
third as the Knights batted around, collecting four hits and three walks while
also capitalizing on a pair of wild pitches.
Senior Mark Jansen (Denver, CO) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and
sophomore Bryce Weston (Petoskey) followed with a ground-rule double to
left-center. With one out, freshman Josh Vriesman (Denver, CO) delivered a
two-run RBI single up the middle. Senior Ben Dykhouse (Grand Rapids Christian)
later added a two-run RBI single of his own with senior Mike Noorman (Covenant
Christian) adding an RBI single and Weston a bases-loaded walk to complete the
scoring.
Junior Arie Eppinga (Walnut Creek, CA) later provided an insurance run in the
sixth with an RBI single to left that scored sophomore Terry O'Neal
(Muskegon-Reeths Puffer) who had led off the inning with a single.
In the seventh, senior Matt Schmitz (Ionia) came on in relief of Ott and
retired the side in order, inducing a pair of ground-outs and ending the game
with a strikeout. The seventh inning performance preserved the pitching victory
for Ott who picked up his first win on the mound since a 3-1 win over Albion on
April 5. Ott improved to 5-4 on the season with the victory, scattering five
hits while walking five and striking out five. Vriesman, Dykhouse and Noorman
all had two hits for the Knights in the victory.
In game two Wednesday, Calvin took a 1-0 lead in the first as Dykhouse drove in
O'Neal from second base on a two-out single to centerfield. Hope bounced back
to score four runs in the top of the second, using three hits and two Calvin
errors to build a 4-1 lead. Maas collected an RBI single to drive in the first
Hope run and sophomore catcher Eric MacLenzie later delivered a two-run RBI
double to right. Jansen came up with a huge defensive play that helped cut short
the Hope rally however as he snared a hard smash to second with runners on
second and third and from his knees, fired a throw home to retire a Hope runner
attempting to score from third for the second out of the inning. The Hope
threat was then closed out on a ground ball to shortstop.
In the top of the third, Schmitz came on in relief of senior starter Andy
Miedema (Unity Christian) and with two runners aboard and one out, got out of
the jam on a pair of fly outs.
Calvin scratched across a run in the third as Vriesman singled up the middle
with one out and later scored on a double to right by Eppinga. The Knights
would then waste scoring opportunities in the fourth and fifth inning but
finally came through in the sixth to score three runs to retake the lead 5-4.
Noorman led off the dramatic sixth with a single to center and with one out,
moved to third on a single to left by Weston. A subsequent fly ball to left by
O'Neal was not deep enough to drive in Noorman from third, leaving the Knights
in a two-out situation. With Vriesman at the plate, Noorman was able to score
on a wild pitch with Weston moving to second on the play, making it a one-run
game at 4-3. Vriesman then sent a ground ball through the left side into
shallow left field that Hope left-fielder Kenny Papes collected and fired home
with Weston attempting to score. The throw by Papes arrived just ahead of the
runner but Weston was able to avoid the tag with a head-first slide and then
tapped the plate with his right hand to score the game-tying run.
Vriesman then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. After an
intentional pass to sophomore Aaron Griffith (Manhattan, KS), Eppinga delivered
a line-drive single to right-center, just over the glove of a diving second
baseman that scored Vriesman with the go-ahead run.
Calvin would make the run hold up in the seventh as Schmitz retired the side in
order, sandwiching a pair ground outs around a foul out down the left field line
to allow the Knights to gain the dramatic win and the MIAA championship in the
process.
Schmitz (5-2) gain the win in relief, allowing just one hit in 4.2 innings of
spotless relief duty, striking out five batters and walking two.
Calvin outhit Hope (28-6 overall) 13-5 in the victory with Vriesman going
3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI while Eppinga was also
3-for-4 with two RBI's and Weston 2-for-3 with a run scored.
"We have all the respect in the world for Hope's baseball team," said Calvin
coach Jeff Pettinga. "They have a terrific team and we had to battle for every
victory in this series. But I could not be any prouder than I am of my kids
right now. They knew they needed three victories in this series to with the
championship and to see them deliver under this kind of pressure is just a
credit to them."
Calvin will be making its third NCAA III Tournament appearance next week. The
NCAA III Tournament field with times, dates and locations is scheduled to be
released on Sunday.
MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 5-8 GAMES
(Albion & Kalamazoo have a doubleheader left for Friday, May 10)
Calvin 16-2
Hope 15-3
Adrian 9-9
Olivet 6-9
Alma 5-10
Kalamazoo 4-12
Albion 3-13
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