MAY 17, 2002
CALVIN BASEBALL ELIMINATED FROM NCAA III MIDWEST REGIONAL
OSHKOSH, WI - Calvin's NCAA III Tournament run came to an end as the Knights
were knocked out of the double-elimination Midwest Regional with a 6-0 loss to
top-seeded Wisconsin-Stevens Point Friday afternoon at the University of
Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
UW-Stevens Point (36-8) will now carry an eight-game win streak into a Saturday
afternoon contest against either Lakeland College (WI) or St. Thomas (MN).
The Calvin loss marked just the second time that the Knights had been shut out
this year. The only other shutout came on March 16 in a 1-0 defeat to Judson
College of Illinois.
Ranked 10th nationally, Stevens Point also handed Calvin freshman ace Jim
Deters of Kalamazoo Christian High School his first pitching defeat since March
23 when he suffered an 8-5 loss to nationally-ranked Marietta College. Since
the March 23 loss, Deters had wrung up a nine-game winning streak. On Friday,
Deters went the first eight innings, allowing four runs of which only two were
earned. He also struck out five batters and walked two. With the loss to
Stevens Point, Deters closed out his sensational freshman campaign with a 10-2
record and a school record total of 100 strikeouts.
UW-Stevens Point carried a .342 team batting average into Friday's game and the
Pointers jumped on the Knights for a run in the second, using back-to-back
doubles from Matt Peetz and Ryan Ivy. Stevens Point added another run in the
third as Ryan Jones delivered a two-out triple and then scored on a Calvin
error. In the sixth, the Pointers scored two more runs, using an Ivy triple, a
run-scoring double by Kevin Fry and a two-out Calvin error that scored Fry who
had moved to third on a sacrifice bunt.
In the ninth, Stevens Point added two insurance runs, using two hits and a walk
to take a 6-0 advantage. UW-Stevens Point finished the game with 10 hits
including six of the extra-base variety. Ivy was the catalyst of the Pointer
offensive machine as the rightfielder went 4-for-5 at the plate with three
RBI's.
Calvin collected eight hits and had several chances to score but failed to come
up with timely hits as the Knights stranded 12 runners over the course of the
game. Calvin's best chances to score came in the first and sixth innings when
the Knights loaded the bases against Stevens Point starter Josh Blaha but left
the bags full each time.
Closing out their collegiate careers for Calvin on Friday were seniors Mike Ott
(Grand Rapids Union), Matt Schmitz (Ionia), Mark Jansen (Denver, CO), Ben
Dykhouse (Grand Rapids Christian), Mike Noorman (Covenant Christian) and James
Cottier (Denver, CO).
Calvin finished the year with a 28-13 overall record. The 28-victory total by
the Knights is a Calvin single-season record. Calvin was making its third-ever
NCAA III Tournament appearance. The Knights are now 0-6 in NCAA III Tournament
play.
-end-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri May 17 2002 - 17:26:18 EDT