CSR (Baseball Sweeps Alma Behind Homerun Outburst)

From: Jeffrey Febus <jfebus@calvin.edu>
Date: Thu Mar 30 2006 - 19:16:58 EST

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 30, 2006

Baseball Sweeps Alma * Gets Back to .500 Mark in MIAA Standings

BASEBALL
Calvin 5, Alma 3
Calvin 14, Alma 3

GRAND RAPIDS * After being stung by a walkoff homerun in a Monday loss at Albion, Calvin struck back with a walkoff homerun of its own on Thursday as the Knights swept a doubleheader from visiting Alma, winning by scores of 5-3 and 14-3.

Calvin (5-11 overall, 3-3 MIAA) won Thursday's opener in dramatic fashion as junior Nick Caudle (Calvin Christian HS) belted a two-run walkoff homerun with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.

Calvin then belted a pair of homers in game two including a three-run homer by senior Kyle Snoeyink (Calvin Christian HS) that was part of a four-run third inning.

In game one, Alma (4-9 overall, 1-3 MIAA) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a three-run homer to left by designated hitter Pat McGuire. Calvin starting pitcher Tim Stoeffler (St. Joseph) was able to get out of further damage however with an inning-ending strikeout with the bases loaded. Stoeffler (1-2) then settled down, blanking the Scots the rest of the way, striking out eight batters and walking two.

Calvin pecked away at the Alma lead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by senior Tyler VanEps (Denver, CO) and an RBI single by Caudle. Calvin tied the game with a two-out rally in the fourth as freshman Kyle Cousins (Holland Christian HS) laced a single up the middle, stole second and then scored on a triple to left-center by freshman Jacob Vriesman (Denver, CO).

In the bottom of the seventh, VanEps reached base on a one-out single to left. Snoeyink followed with a deep fly-out to left but Caudle was able to pick up the slack with a blast over the left-field wall for his second homerun of the year.

Alma starter Wade Slavik (0-1) took the loss, striking out three and walking one.

In game two, Alma took a 1-0 lead with a run in the top on the first but the Knights tied the game on a solo homer to left by VanEps. In the bottom of the third, Cousins led off with a double to left-center, and scored on a single to right by VanEps. With two runners on, Snoeyink stepped up and belted a line drive over the left-field wall for his second homerun of the spring, staking Calvin starter Nate Pockock (Wayland, MA) to a 5-1 lead.

Calvin added six runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to give Pockock plenty of run support. Pockock (2-2) went all seven innings to pick up his second pitching victory in MIAA play, striking out four and walking four. Alma's pitching staff also issued six walks and hit five Calvin batters. VanEps went 2-for-3 in the win with four runs and three RBI's. Snoeyink was 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBI's while Cousins went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.

On the afternoon, VanEps was 4-for-7 at the plate with five runs scored and four RBI's. Caudle was 3-for-5 at the plate with four runs scored and three RBI's.

Calvin and Alma will complete their four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Alma's Jim Northrup Field set to start at 1:00 p.m.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 3-30-06

Adrian 5-1
Albion 5-1
Kalamazoo 4-2
Calvin 3-3
Hope 2-2
Olivet 2-4
Alma 1-3
Tri-State 0-6

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Mar 30 19:26:59 2006

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