CSR (Baseball Takes Two From Olivet)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2006

BASEBALL TAKES TWO AT OLIVET
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen ’08)
Calvin 6, Olivet 5
Calvin 12, Olivet 8

OLIVET * Taking a conference double-header at Olivet this afternoon, the Knights finally put an end to their six-game losing streak. Calvin (13-17, 11-7 MIAA) put together a strong effort today to defeat Olivet 6-5 in game one and followed with a 12-8 victory in game two.

The Knights began the scoring in the second inning of game one with a lead-off homerun by senior Kyle Snoeyink (Grandville/Calvin Christian), his third of the season. Calvin scored two more runs in the inning off of two singles, an error, and two walks, one of which drove in Calvin’s second run. Calvin led 3-0.

Olivet followed suit in its half of the second, also scoring three runs. In the top of the third, Calvin took a 4-3 lead when Snoeyink was hit by a pitch and then reached third on a Mike Aggen (Evergreen Park, IL/Evergreen Park Community) single*his second of the game*and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly.

Olivet again answered and then one-upped Calvin in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs and establishing a 5-4 lead off a double, single, and an error.

The Knights fought to win back the lead in the fifth and did so as Aggen reached on a wild pitch and scored on a double by sophomore Alex Marcus (Willmar, MN/Willmar Sr), who then scored as senior Kyle Hollemans (Kentwood/East Kentwood) also doubled, giving Calvin the 6-5 lead.

As neither team scored in the next innings, Calvin came away with the victory, as did senior Andy Draayer (Denver, CO/Denver Christian), who pitched seven innings and now has a 3-3 season record. Olivet’s Brian Schaeffer took the loss.

Senior Mark Asma (Portage/Kalamazoo Christian) was 3-4 from the plate, and Aggen was 2-4.

In game two, Calvin again began the scoring in the second inning, this time putting six runs on the board off of five hits, all of which were singles sprinkled around the field.
Olivet put up a threat in its half of the second with two hits and two walks, but only came up with one run, leaving Calvin to lead 6-1.

Olivet gained another run in the bottom of the third with the help of a lead-off double and a single.

Calvin distanced itself even farther in the top of the fourth inning when the Knights posted four more runs off of three hits and three errors. The first three Calvin batters reached on two errors and a walk. Hollemans drove in Aggen with a single and Marcus scored on a fielder’s choice play. Asma and senior Tyler Van Eps (Denver, CO/Denver Christian) then came up with singles two drive in runs nine and ten. Calvin led 10-2.

Relentless on offense, the Knights took a double-digit lead in the top of the fifth, scoring two more runs off of freshman Jacob Vriesman’s (Denver, CO/Denver Christian) and senior Mark Tigchelaar (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) singles, two walks, and an error. Calvin led 12-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, Olivet battled back but fell short, scoring six runs off of three hits and two Calvin errors. Though the Comets had a hit in both the sixth and seventh innings, they were not able to put any threat together, and Calvin took the 12-8 win.

Calvin freshman Kyle Cousins (Holland/Holland Christian), now 3-2, was the winning pitcher, striking out seven batters in five innings of work. Sophomore Scott Larsen (Hastings/Hastings) held off Olivet in the last two innings, allowing only two hits and no runs. Vriesman led was 3-4 from the plate and Marcus was 2-2.

Olivet’s Mark Sherrod took the loss and pitched two innings, with four other Olivet pitchers each seeing at least one inning of work.

The Knights sit fourth in MIAA standings, only one game behind third-place Hope College and two away from second-place Albion College.

Calvin will face Olivet again Saturday afternoon in a home double-header slated to begin at 1 p.m.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-21-06 GAMES

Adrian 16-2
Albion 13-5
Hope 12-6
Calvin 11-7
Alma 9-9
Kalamazoo 7-11
Olivet 4-14
Tri-State 0-18

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Apr 21 23:32:07 2006