CSR (Baseball Take 3 of 4 From Albion - Women's Tennis Falls to Saint Mary's)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 26, 2007

Baseball Sweeps Twinbill From Albion;
Women's Tennis Falls to Saint Mary's

BASEBALL
Calvin 8, Albion 1
Calvin 7, Albion 6

GRAND RAPIDS -- After opening the season with an 0-8 record, Calvin has won
three of its last four. The Knights improved to 3-9 overall and more
importantly to 3-1 in the MIAA with a double-header sweep over visiting Albion
Monday afternoon at Calvin Field, winning by scores of 8-3 and 7-6.

Heading into Monday's twinbill, Calvin had collected just 43 hits on the
season with a miniscule .201 team batting average. On Monday, Calvin collected
24 hits in the pair of games, raising its team batting average 30 points to
.231.

In game one, sophomore Nate Pocock (Wayland, MA) had a stellar outing on the
mound, striking out eight batters and walking just two in seven innings of work
to earn the win. Leading 4-3, Calvin broke the game wide open with three runs
in the fifth and added an insurance run in the sixth. Four Calvin players had
multi-hit games with sophomore Jacob Vriesman (Denver, CO) leading the way by
going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double. Junior Alex Marcus (Wilmar, MN) also
had two doubles and an RBI with sophomore Chris Blacklidge (Comstock Park HS)
and freshman Zach VanDyke (Lombard, IL) collecting two hits and two runs batted
in apiece. VanDyke belted his first collegiate homerun - a two-run shot - in
the second. Blacklidge had an RBI double in the fifth while freshman Matt
Schepel (Grand Rapids Christian HS) also had a key two-run RBI double in the
fifth-inning rally.

In game two, Calvin was forced to come-from-behind for the win as the Knights
trailed 4-1 before rallying for five runs in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.
Marcus drove in the first run of the inning on a pop fly into shallow left that
eluded two Albion fielders. Blacklidge later delivered a two-run RBI single and
seniors Kyle Fletcher (Fort Wayne, IN) and Eric Boer (Grand Rapids Christian
HS) followed with RBI singles.

Albion (6-10 overall, 1-3 MIAA) countered with two runs in the top of the
seventh to tie the game 6-6. The Knights were not done though as Vriesman
reached base on a one-out single and then moved to third on walks to senior
Nick Caudle (Calvin Christian HS) and sophomore Jason May (Chicago, IL). With
two outs, Blacklidge drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the game-winning run
from third. The run batted in was the sixth of the afternoon for Blacklidge who
raised his season batting average to .364.

Vriesman also finshed 6-for-9 on the afternoon, raising his season batting
average to .417. Sophomore Todd LaForest (Clio) got the win in relief with
junior Scott Larsen (Hastings HS) going the first five innings for the Knights.

With the sweep, Calvin is tied for second place with Adrian and Olivet, one
game behind league-leading Hope which won all four games in a series with Alma.
Calvin returns to action on Thursday at Alma in a conference doubleheader
scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Jim Northrup Field.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 3-26-07

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

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Saint Mary's 5, Calvin 4

The visiting Saint Mary's Belles handed Calvin its first conference defeat of
the year, nipping the Knights 5-4 Monday afternoon. Calvin won two of the three
doubles flights but Saint Mary's then won three of the next five singles
flights to tie the match at 4-4. Saint Mary's then clinched the victory with a
win at No. 2 singles.

Calvin (6-4 overall, 2-1 MIAA) returns to action on Friday when it travels to
Wheaton to take on the Thunder in the Jack Swartz Classic.

Saint Mary's 5, Calvin College 4
Mar 26, 2007 at Grand Rapids, MI

Singles competition
1. Kelly McDavitt (SMC) def. Elisabeth Geenen (CALVINW) 6-4, 7-6 (6-4)
2. Camille Gebert (SMC) def. Kari Lipinski (CALVINW) 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1
3. Allyson Logan (CALVINW) def. Mary E. Campbell (SMC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Rachel Strikwerda (CALVINW) def. Lisa Rubino (SMC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Caitlin O'Brien (SMC) def. Kelsey Bushhouse (CALVINW) 7-6 (6-2), 6-0
6. Grace Gordon (SMC) def. Rachel DeGroot (CALVINW) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Kelly McDavitt/Camille Gebert (SMC) def. Kari Lipinski/Rachel Strikwerda
(CALVINW) 8-1
2. Allyson Logan/Jill VanVeen (CALVINW) def. Mary E. Campbell/Lisa Rubino
(SMC) 8-5
3. Elisabeth Geenen/Rachel DeGroot (CALVINW) def. Grace Gordon/Caitlin O'Brien
(SMC) 8-4

CALVIN SOFTBALL DOUBLEHEADER AT CORNERSTONE TUESDAY SET TO BEGIN AT 3:30 p.m.

Calvin's non-conference doubleheader at Cornerstone on Tuesday will begin at
3:30 p.m. The doubleheader was originally set to begin at 2:30 p.m.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Mon Mar 26 21:15:21 2007