CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MONDAY, MAY 13, 2002
BASEBALL TO OPEN NCAA III TOURNEY IN OSHKOSH, WI
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Calvin baseball team will open NCAA III TOURNAMENT play
in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The 42-team NCAA III Tournament field was announced
Monday morning and Calvin will be part of a six-team field hosted by the
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Wisconsin-Oshkosh will also host the NCAA III
Baseball World Series the following week.
Joining Calvin in the regional field in Wisconsin will be defending national
champion St. Thomas of Minnesota which is the number-two seed in the regional
field and will carry ar 29-10 record into the NCAA III Tournament. The top seed
in the regional field is Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 34-8. Lakeland of Wisconsin
is the third seed at 29-14-1 while Calvin is the fourth seed at 28-11.
Filling out the regional are fifth-seeded Blackburn of Wisconsin at 26-10 and
sixth-seeded George Fox of Oregon at 26-13.
The double-elimination regional opens play on Thursday with times and matchups
set to be announced later on Monday.
Calvin will be making its third NCAA III Tournament appearance including its
second in the last three years. Under the leadership of veteran head coach Jeff
Pettinga, Calvin will be seeking its first NCAA III Tournament victory as the
Knights are 0-4 in NCAA III Tournament play, having dropped a pair of games in
1984 and in 2000.
"We're excited for another chance in the tournament," said Pettinga. "Our team
has excellent chemistry this year and we are playing with a lot of confidence.
We're planning on giving it our best shot this week and we'll let the chips fall
where they may."
Calvin received an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA III Tournament by claiming its
seventh MIAA title this past week with a three-game sweep of Hope, allowing the
Knights to finish 16-2 in the MIAA, one game ahead of Hope (15-3). At 28-11,
the Knights have already established a new Calvin single-season record for
victories in a season.
Five of Calvin's opponents this year including two at the NCAA Division II level
have also received NCAA Tournament bids.
At the NCAA II level, Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State received bids
to the national tournament. Saginaw Valley State was an 8-1 winner over Calvin
earlier this year while the Knights split a pair of games with Grand Valley,
defeating the Lakers 11-9 and then falling 8-7.
Opponents included in the NCAA III Tournament field include defending national
runner-up Marietta (34-7-1), Manchester (30-11-1) and Roger Williams of Rhode
Island (25-14). Calvin opened its season with a 13-4 win over Roger Williams in
Florida before later dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Marietta later in
the month. In April, Calvin topped Manchester 10-7 in a game played at Calvin
Field.
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