CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 16, 2005
SOFTBALL
Calvin remained in the thick of the MIAA title hunt after sweeping Olivet 2-0 and 6-4 Saturday afternoon at the Gainey Athletic Complex.
Senior Kara VanKooten (Anchorage, AK) dug down deep and delivered a pair of pitching victories for the Knights (17-9 overall, 7-1 MIAA) as she hurled a complete-game shutout win in the opener and gained the victory in relief in game two.
The sweep keeps Calvin right on the tails of league-leading Alma as the Scots improved to 9-1 in the league with a doubleheader sweep over St. Mary's on Saturday.
In its opening game win over Olivet (15-11 overall, 6-4 MIAA), Calvin struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second and held on for the win despite being outhit 5-3. Calvin's two-run second was the result of a pair of walks, a sacrifice bunt, a groundout and an Olivet error. Olivet's most serious scoring threat came in the sixth when the Comets placed two runners aboard with two outs but could not bring a run home.
VanKooten (8-5) struck out two batters and walked just one. Erica Anderson took the loss for Olivet.
In game two, Calvin jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second but Olivet fought back with single runs in the bottom of the second and then third to tie the game. Olivet then added single runs in the fourth and fifth to build a 4-2 lead but the Knights would not fold.
In the top of the sixth, Calvin loaded the bases with two outs and on a 1-2 pitch, sophomore Erin Conrad (Calvin Christian HS) lined a single to left that scored two. Freshman Cori VanKoevering (Unity Christian HS) followed with a two-run single to right field to give the Knights a 6-4 lead. All four Calvin runs in the sixth inning were unearned.
Olivet would place just one runner on base the rest of the game as VanKooten closed out the victory for the Knights while Anderson (9-5) suffered her second pitching defeat of the day. Calvin picked up eight hits in the win with senior Abby Konyndyk (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and junior Laurel Sands (Rockford HS) collecting two hits apiece while junior shortstop Jeanne Cole (Mason County Eastern HS) had an RBI double.
Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it travels to Tri-State University for a conference doubleheader slated to start at 3:30 p.m.
MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-05
Alma 9-1
Calvin 7-1
Hope 8-2
Olivet 6-4
Tri-State 6-4
Albion 3-7
Adrian 3-7
Kalamazoo 2-6
St. Mary's 0-12
BASEBALL
Calvin remained a game out of first place in the MIAA standings with a doubleheader split on Saturday against visiting Olivet with the Knights winning the opener 3-2 in eight innings and falling in the nightcap 4-2.
Calvin (10-13 overall, 8-4 MIAA) remains tied for second place with Albion (8-4 MIAA), one game behind league-leading Adrian (9-3) and one game ahead of fourth place Hope (7-5).
For the second consecutive Saturday, Calvin used another seventh-inning comeback to gain a victory in the opener of a conference doubleheader as the Knights tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by sophomore Mark Tigchelaar (Grand Rapids Christian HS).
Tigchelaar drove in Calvin's first run of the game with an RBI single in the third but Olivet came back with two runs in the top of the fourth highlighted by Chris Shelhart's 12th home run of the spring.
In the bottom of the seventh, Calvin mounted a rally as junior Kyle Snoeyink (Calvin Christian HS) reached base on an error and was replaced by pinch-runner Brad Brummel (South Christian HS). Brummel advanced to second on an error and them moved to third on a groundout to second. Tigchelaar then followed with a clutch single through the left side of the infield to plate Brummel and tie the game.
In the top of the eighth, Olivet was retired in order by Calvin junior pitcher Tim Stoeffler (St. Joseph). In the bottom half, juniors Tyler VanEps (Denver, CO) and Mike Aggen (Evergreen Park, IL) reached base on infield errors. Senior Jim Deters (Kalamazoo Christian HS) then hit a ground ball to first that was misplayed for the third error of the inning. The miscue allowed VanEps to come home from second with the game-winning run.
Stoeffler (3-3) picked up the complete-game pitching victory as he struck eight batters and walked three while scattering four hits.
In game two, Olivet (16-11 overall, 5-7 MIAA) built a 4-0 lead with single runs in the second and third and two more in the fourth. Calvin brought home a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by sophomore Mark Asma (Kalamazoo Christian HS) but stranded two base-runners. Calvin stranded two more runners in the sixth but fought back to mount another rally in the bottom of the seventh as Asma and sophomore Nick Caudle (Calvin Christian HS) led off the inning with walks. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and Tigchelaar followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to drive in a run. The Calvin threat was extinguished however on back-to-back fly outs, allowing Olivet to escape with the win.
Calvin finished the game with 10 hits but stranded eight runners. Junior Jory Trim (Grand Rapids Creston HS) took the loss for Calvin to fall to 3-4 on the year as he struck out two and walked one in 4.2 innings of work with Snoeyink working the remaining 2.1 innings. Freshman Adam Bassett (5-2) picked up the win for Olivet with senior Dustin Bolt collecting his second save of the year.
Asma and Aggen collected two hits apiece for Calvin in defeat.
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Division II Saginaw Valley State for a non-conference game scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-05
Adrian 9-3
Albion 8-4
Calvin 8-4
Hope 7-5
Alma 6-6
Olivet 5-7
Tri-State 4-8
Kalamazoo 1-11
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
The Calvin men's and women's track and field teams remained unbeaten in MIAA dual meet competition with victories over Alma and Olivet Saturday afternoon at Calvin Field.
In the men's competition, Calvin defeated Alma 141-48 and Olivet 145-36. On the women's side, Calvin defeated Alma 122-60 and Olivet 126-30. The Calvin women have now won 75 consecutive MIAA dual meets dating all the way back to the 1989 season.
In the women's competition, Calvin freshman Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids HS) picked up a pair of individual victories, winning the 100 meters (13.03) and 100 meter hurdles (14.89). Sophomore Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS) was also a double-winners, taking first place in the 200 meters (26.62) and 400 meters (58.26).
The throwing combination of senior Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and sophomore Megan VanderVliet (Oakville, ON) also produced big results with Nanninga winning the shot put (45-7) and VanderVliet the discus (129-8).
In the high jump, sophomores Lauren Colyn (Kalamazoo Christian HS) and Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids Christian HS) tied for first place with jumps of 5-4. Other individual winners for Calvin included junior Missy Smith (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the pole vault (11-0), sophomore Kelly Zwier (Kalamazoo Christian HS) in the long jump (17-1 ½), sophomore Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA) in the triple jump (35-6 ¼), junior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 800 meters (2:17.96), junior Joanna Schmit (Minneapolis, MN), sophomore Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (11:21.70) and sophomore Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) in the 5,000 meters (19:18.61). Calvin's 400 meter (49.52) and 1,600 meter (4:02.63) relay teams also took first place.
On the men's side, the hurdles combination of senior Reuben Sportel (South Christian HS) and freshman Kelby McClelland (Mercer, PA) clicked into high gear with Sportel winning the 400 meter hurdles (55.60) while McClelland won the 100 high hurdles (15.61).
In the field events, the brother combination of junior Nate Meckes and sophomore Josh Meckes of Bay City came up big with Nate Meckes winning the shot put (55-3) and discus (169-11) while Josh Meckes won the long jump (21-8 ½) and took second in the shot put (44-9 ½) and discus (129-10).
Other individual winners for Calvin include junior Chris Friebel (Shelby, OH) in the 200 meters (22.52), junior Brian VanDyken (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 400 meters (53.87), sophomore Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) in the 800 meters (2:00.07), senior Kris Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 1,500 meters (3:59.22),), senior Joel Alberts (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (9:51.20), senior Jeff Engbers (Whitsinville, MA in the 5,000 meters (14:56.16) and junior Tim Zwiers (Pella, IA) in the triple jump (42-11 ¼). Calvin also swept both relays as its 400 meter relay team clocked in with a first place time of 43.67 while its 1,600 meter relay took first place with a time of 3:25.44.
Both Calvin track and field teams will now prepare to host MIAA double-dual meets on Wednesday against Adrian and Albion at 2:00 p.m. In the men's competition, Calvin and Albion are the only remaining unbeaten teams in the MIAA dual meet standings. A year ago, Albion handed Calvin its only MIAA dual meet loss, defeating the Knights 101-91.
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin remained unbeaten in conference action and improved to 14-1 overall with a 9-0 win at Adrian Saturday afternoon. Calvin and Kalamazoo are the only remaining unbeaten teams in the MIAA dual match standings Calvin is just ahead of third place Hope (4-1). Calvin will host Hope on Wednesday in a pivotal MIAA dual match slated to start at 4:00 p.m. Calvin will tune up for its Wednesday match with Hope with a non-conference match against Ferris State on Monday at home.
MEN'S COLLEGE TENNIS
Calvin 9, Adrian 0
At Adrian
SINGLES-1. Kevin VanHaitsma d. Danny Krsteski 6-2, 6-2; 2. Rafael Siebenschein d. Steven Kerwin 6-0, 6-1; 3. Dan Volkema d. Richard Powers 6-0, 6-0; 4. Michael Goorhouse d. Ryan Schmidli 6-0, 6-0; 5. Ryan DeNooyer d. David Schlaufman 6-0, 6-0; 6. David Sneller d. Blake Childs 6-2, 6-0.
DOUBLES-1. Jon Miedema/Ricky Tilton d. Krsteski/Kerwin 6-3, 6-2; 2. Siebenschein/VanHaitsma d. Powers/Childs 6-0, 6-0; 3. Volkema/DeNooyer d. Schmidli/Schlauffman 6-0, 6-0.
MIAA MEN'S TENNIS STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-05
Calvin 4-0
Kalamazoo 3-0
Hope 4-1
Albion 3-2
Tri-State 1-4
Alma 1-5
Adrian 0-4
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Apr 17 00:27:41 2005
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