CSR (Baseball Splits with Scots * MIAA Baseball Race Tightens)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT for April 25, 2005

BASEBALL

Calvin split a doubleheader with the visiting Scots of Alma Monday afternoon
at Calvin Field, winning the opener 7-0 and falling in game two 7-5. The
Knights are now 11-15 overall and 9-5 in the MIAA standings, a half-game ahead
of third place Albion and Hope which are currently 8-5 in league play.

GAME ONE RECAP
(by Annalise Venhuizen '08)

Calvin fans and Major League Baseball scouts lined the fences Monday to watch
senior pitcher Jim Deters in the first game of a double-header against Alma
College, which was rescheduled due to Saturday's cold weather and snow.

Deters did not disappoint as he shut-out conference opponent Alma, allowing
only 3 hits and striking out five. Deters (Kalamazoo Christian HS) is now 3rd
on the MIAA career list in victories, having a 16-3 career record in MIAA play.
 Deters is now 5-1 overall on the season.

The Calvin offense also did not disappoint fans as the Knights collected seven
runs off of eight hits. Senior Josh Vriesman (Denver, CO) and junior Mike
Aggen (Evergreen Park, IL) were both 2-for-3 at the plate, driving in two
RBI's a piece.

Calvin rallied early, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Junior Mark
Asma (Portage/Kalamazoo Christian) had a lead off single, and junior Mark
Tigchelaar (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) followed with a single of his
own. Vriesman advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Then Aggen shot a
double to right center field, driving in Asma and Tigchelaar for two runs.

Calvin's fourth inning seemed never-ending, as the Knights scored four runs
off of two hits and three errors by the Scots. To start off the inning, junior
Kyle Snoeyink (Grandville/Calvin Christian) walked and then advanced to second
on Nick Caudle's attempted a sacrifice bunt. Caudle succeeded in the bunt
part but wasn't able to sacrifice himself as he was called safe at first on a
throwing error. The runners advanced with another error by Alma, drawn by
Calvin's junior Tim Stoeffler (St. Joseph). A fielder's choice drove in
Caudle and on the same play, a third error by Alma on two outs drove in
Stoeffler. Then Vriesman came up to the plate, hitting a two-out triple to
right center, scoring Tigchelaar who had reached on a fielder's choice.
Junior Tyler Van Eps (Denver, CO) then singled, driving in Vriesman for the
last run of the inning.

Calvin had one last run in the sixth inning to seal the win. Asma was hit by
a pitch to start the bottom of the inning and advanced to second on a ground
out. Asma then scored by way of another Vriesman hit, this time a single.

GAME TWO RECAP

In game two, Calvin's defense proved to be its undoing as the Knights
committed five errors that led to three unearned runs as the visiting Scots
(7-11 overall, 7-7 MIAA) held on for the 7-5 victory.

Calvin appeared poised for the sweep as it loaded the bases with no outs in
the bottom of the first while already holding a 1-0 lead. A double-play ball
brought in a second Calvin run but also gave Alma starter Adam Jerry (2-0) a
chance to get out of the inning which he did on the very next at bat on a
ground-out to third base.

Given a chance to hang around, the Scots struck back with a two-out rally in
the top of the second as a bloop hit to center, a walk and then a mammoth home
run to left-center by catcher Mike Zuehlke gave Alma a 3-2 lead.

Alma added another run in the third, capitalizing on an infield error to lead
off the inning. Alma gave the run right back in the bottom half as the Scots
committed a one-out error that allowed Tigchelaar to reach base. Tigchelaar
then scored on a two-out RBI single to right by Aggen.

In the top of the fifth, Alma scored its fifth run of the game on an infield
single with two outs that plated Pete Ott from third base. The Alma lead
ballooned to 7-3 in the top of the sixth as the Scots used four Calvin errors
and a pair of hits to score a pair of unearned runs.

Calvin refused to fold as junior Kyle Snoeyink (Calvin Christian HS) unloaded
his third home run of the spring in the bottom of the sixth, depositing a
two-run shot over the left-field wall with one out to cut the Alma lead in
half. Calvin's sixth-inning threat was retired however as Alma got out of
the inning with a strikeout and pickoff at first base.

In the bottom of the seventh, Vriesman reached base on a one-out error and
moved to third on a groundout but was stranded as Alma first baseman Calvin
Bassil speared a line-drive headed to the right-field corner by Aggen with a
spectacular leaping grab.

Junior Tim Stoeffler (St. Joseph) too the loss for Calvin to fall to 3-4 on
the year, striking out three and walking one in 5.2 innings of work. Snoeyink
came on in relief and tossed 1.1 innings of shutout ball. Snoeyink was also
2-for-3 at the plate and just missed a two-homer game as he collected a double
in the fourth inning that hit the top of the centerfield fence, located 400
feet from the plate.

Jerry picked up the win for Alma, striking out five and walking four in six
innings of work. Brandon Shorter came on in the seventh to pick up his second
save of the year.

The two teams will close out the three-game series on Wednesday with a single
nine-inning game slated to start at 4:00 p.m. at Calvin Field.

The game will be aired via RealAudio through the Calvin web site at:
www.Calvin.edu/sports

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-25-05

Adrian 9-3
Calvin 9-5
Albion 8-5
Hope 8-5
Alma 7-7
Olivet 6-8
Tri-State 4-8
Kalamazoo 2-12

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Mon Apr 25 20:12:02 2005