CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR April 27, 2006 (Part One)
Baseball Swept by Hope;
Softball Swept by Hope
BASEBALL
(Story written by Brian Bosma)
Hope 13, Calvin 4
Hope 2, Calvin 0
Coming into their doubleheader match up against archrival Hope the Knights
stood just one game behind the Dutchman for third place in the MIAA. However,
with a slumping offense and a couple of bad breaks by the end of the day the
Knights would find themselves a full three games behind their archrivals.
Game one started out promising for the Knights as they jumped ahead in the
first behind a hard hit two-run RBI double by designated hitter Kyle Snoeyink
(Calvin Christian HS)which gave Calvin a 2-1 lead. Senior pitcher Andy Draayer
(Denver, CO) struggled early, allowing several Hope base runners, yet with a
few key pitches and a strong defense behind him was able to work out of several
early inning jams.
Draayer got added support when the Knight went ahead 4-1 in the bottom of the
third inning. The inning began with Senior Tyler Van Eps (Denver, CO)
launching a homerun to deep left field, followed by another hard hit double by
Snoeyink. Following a single by catcher Mike Aggen (Evergreen Park, IL), the
Knights scored another run when Hope pitcher Mike Rodgers balked on a failed
pick off attempt at first. However, with one of several bad breaks for the
Knights, Kyle Snoeyink who had tweaked his ankle in batting practice had to be
removed for a pinch runner after crushing his second double of the game.
Calvin was without the team leader in homeruns for the rest of the night.
Nevertheless, the Knights still headed to the fourth with a 4 to 1 lead over
the Dutchman, and looked well on their way to taking home the all important
victory. That was until the Hope bats came alive scoring 12 runs on 14 hits
over the last 4 innings. Hope third basemen Geordie Mackenzie turned in an
impressive effort going 2 for 3 while driving in four runs.
The Dutchman's offensive explosion seemed to calm starting pitcher Mike
Rodgers who didn't give up a hit to the Knights over the last 4 innings on
his way to the complete game victory. So the Knights went on to fall to their
archrival by the tough score of 13 to 4, dropping them two games behind the
Dutchman for third place in the MIAA.
Even with the tough loss in game one the Knights still hoped to salvage at
least one game of the doubleheader, allowing them to remain with striking
distance of the Dutchmen. Calvin looked to have the right man on the mound to
do this as defending MIAA pitcher of the week freshman Nate Pocock (Wayland,
MA) took the hill.
Pocock started out very strong against the talented Hope lineup, holding them
scoreless over the first three innings. However, with injuries to offensive
starters and a couple slumps plaguing the Knights, they were unable to find any
kind of offensive production against Hope pitcher Mike Howes. Yet even with
only 4 hits on the night for the Calvin offense, it didn't mean that they did
not have chances to score. Key strikeouts and a strong Hope defense thwarted
the Knights key scoring opportunities early in the game, allowing the Dutchman
to gain the momentum heading into the later innings. Hope was able to
capitalize on this momentum plating the first run of the game in the top of the
fourth inning when left fielder Scott Sommavilla drove in the hard hitting
second basemen Mike VanderVelde to give the Dutchman the 1 to 0 lead.
Calvin looked to bounce back in their half of the fourth when with 2 outs
catcher Mike Aggen was hit by a pitch from Howes, and first basemen Mark
Tigchelaar (Grand Rapids Christian HS) reached on a Hope error. However, the
hard hitting Nick Caudle (Calvin Christian HS) struck out swinging to end the
Knights threat. Though the Knights would mount a few more offensive threats,
they were unable to bring any runners home. A sore and unhappy Mike Aggen, who
already had been pegged in game one of the doubleheader, was hit twice more and
yet never had the chance to cross home plate.
Along with Aggen the Knight's luck also took a beating when with two outs in
the top of the 7th and Hope clinging to a one run lead, shortstop Joey Goeb hit
a sure fire third out towards 2nd basemen Tyler Van Eps. Unfortunately, the
ball bounced off of the on field umpire, allowing all runners to reach safely
and eventually leading to an all important insurance run for the Dutchman.
With the air completely out of their sails, the Knights were unable to mount
any kind of final inning come back and fell by the score of 2 to 0.
The loss moves the Knights three games behind the Dutchman for first place in
the MIAA. However, the Knights will look to bounce back this weekend as they
travel to Holland to take on the Dutchman in another doubleheader on Saturday
with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.
MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-27-06
Adrian 18-2
Hope 16-6
Albion 15-7
Calvin 12-10
Alma 11-11
Kalamazoo 7-13
Olivet 6-16
Tri-State 1-21
SOFTBALL
(Story written by Drew DeVries)
Hope 9, Calvin 0
Hope 8, Calvin 0
GRAND RAPIDS - Calvin hosted the twinbill against rival Hope College Thursday
afternoon and fell victim to the mercy rule in each game dropping the first 9-0
and the second 8-0. The afternoon also marked the final home games for senior
shortstop Jeanne Cole (Fountain, Mich./Mason County Eastern HS).
Hope didn't waste any time and jumped ahead right away in the first inning
scoring three runs off of four hits. The Flying Dutchmen struck again in the
third by collecting four more runs off of five hits and then by scoring two
more in the sixth, Hope forced the game to be called an inning early.
Becky Whitman for the Flying Dutchmen collected the win by pitching the full
six innings allowing only one hit while Kristin Folkerts (Grand Rapids
Christian HS) received the loss for the Knights giving up six earned runs off
of fourteen hits.
The second game was the same story for the Knights. Hope again got on the
board early scoring four quick runs in the first inning. Kelsey Guisbert
recorded the win and held the Knights hitless until the fourth inning when Erin
Conrad (Grandville/Calvin Christian) singled to center field. Calvin's only
other hit came in the fifth when Loren Scarbrough (Antioch, IL/North Suburban
Lake) ripped one out to left field.
For Calvin, Ruth Anna Spooner (Twin Falls, ID) picked up the loss in the
contest pitching the first three innings allowing four runs and four hits while
Folkerts finished up the next two innings allowing three more earned runs.
Along with struggling on offense collecting three hits over both games, the
Knights were also plagued with errors recording six of them.
Calvin (13-19, 8-11 MIAA) will close out the season when they travel to Alma
Saturday for a doubleheader slated to begin at 1:00 pm.
MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-27-06 GAMES
Hope 13-1
Alma 10-4
St. Mary's 9-5
Albion 8-6
Olivet 8-6
Tri-State 7-7
Calvin 5-9
Adrian 3-13
Kalamazoo 1-13
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Apr 27 22:02:43 2006
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Thu Apr 27 2006 - 22:02:44 EDT