CSR (Calvin Saturday Sports Report for April 5, 2008)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 5, 2008

Baseball Remains Unbeaten in MIAA With Sweep of Alma;
Softball Wins Two at North Central Invitational;
Women's Tennis Finishes 9th at Midwest Invitation Tournament;
Track and Field Teams Compete at Bulldog Invitational at Ferris State

BASEBALL
Calvin 6, Alma 5
Calvin 9, Alma 1

ALMA -- Calvin ran its winning streak to six games and remained on top of the MIAA standings with a doubleheader sweep at Alma Saturday, winning by scores of 6-5 and 9-1. The Knights are now 14-1 overall and hold sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings at 6-0 in conference play. Adrian and Olivet are tied for second place with 6-2 conference marks.

Calvin used a come-from-behind rally to win Saturday's opener as the Knights trailed 5-2 but scored a single run in the fourth and two in the sixth to tie the game at five. Senior Alex Marcus (Wilmar, MN) had a key hit in the sixth inning with a run-scoring double. In the top of the seventh, Calvin took the lead as junior Kyle Cousins (Holland Christian HS) reached base on a lead-off walk and later scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, Alma placed runners on first and third with two outs but Calvin junior Nate Pocock (Wayland, MA) was able to get out the jam by coaxing the next Alma batter into a game-ending pop-up.

Pocock picked up the win to run his season record to 4-0. Pocock struck out seven and walked three in seven innings of work while allowing nine hits. Calvin picked up just seven hits but reaped the benefits of five walks by the Alma pitching staff and two errors by the Alma defense. Marcus led the way for Calvin at the plate by going 3-for-3 with two RBI's while sophomore Rob Kool (Grand Rapids Christian HS) had a pair of hits and three runs batted in.

In game two, Calvin put the game away with a six-run fourth inning punctuated by a three-run home by sophomore Matt Schepel. The home run was Schepel's fourth roundtripper of the year. Schepel was one of four Calvin players to record multiple-hit games in the win as junior Jason May (Chicago, IL) was 3-for-4, senior Kyle Fletcher (Fort Wayne, IN) 2-for-3, Schepel 2-for-3 and junior Jacob Vriesman (Denver, CO) 3-for-4.

Cousins picked up the win for calvin on the mound, striking out six and walking two. Also seeing action in relief for the Knights were freshman Jeff Groenewold (Villa Park, IL) and senior Scott Larsen (Hastings HS).

Calvin returns to action on Monday when it travels to Hope for a makeup doubleheader slated to start at 2:00 p.m. at Hope's Boeve Stadium.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-8-08 GAMES

Calvin 6-0
Adrian 6-2
Olivet 6-2
Hope 3-3
Alma 3-5
Albion 3-7
Tri-State 3-7
Kalamazoo 2-6

SOFTBALL
Calvin 4, Wheaton 1
Calvin 2, North Central 1

NAPERVILLE, IL -- Calvin snapped a nine-game losing skid with a pair of victories at the North Central Invitational Saturday afternoon, defeating Wheaton (IL) 4-1 and host Notrh Central 2-1. The Knights are currently 6-14 on the year.

In the win over Wheaton (13-8), Calvin scored one run in the fifth and three in the sixth to cement the win. In the fifth, junior pitcher Kristin Folkerts (Grand Rapids Christian HS) helped her own cause with an RBI single. In the sixth, junior Loren Scarbrough (Antioch, IL) belted a bases-loaded triple that gave Calvin a 4-0 lead. Wheaton scratched across a run in the bottom half of the sixth but did not score again. Folkerts picked up the win, striking out four and walking one while allowing just three hits. Sophomore Whisper Miller (Reed City HS) had two hits for the Knights while junior Brittany Moriarity (Muskegon Mona Shores HS) scored a pair of runs.

Against North Central (14-4), Calvin scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 1-0 deficit. Freshman Jacqueline Kirkman (Oregon, OH) came up with the dramatic hit, belting a two-run double with one out in the seventh to give the Knights the win over the host Cardinals.

Folkerts (5-11) picked up the win for Calvin, striking out three and walking none while scattering five hits.

Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Adrian for a conference twinbill set to start at 3:30 p.m.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 5, Luther 4

MADISON, WI -- Calvin took ninth at the Midwest Invitation Tournament with a dramatic 5-4 win over Luther College (IA) in the tournament's consolation bracket Saturday afternoon. Calvin finished the tournament with a 2-1 record, falling to regionally-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater before bouncing back to defeat St. Mary's of Minnesota and Luther.

Saturday's match featured a meeeting of regionally-ranked teams as Calvin entered the match ranked 11th in the most recent Central Region rankings while Luther cam ein ranked 10th in the Central Region.

The two teams split the six singles points with freshman Melissa Oosterhouse (Grand Rapids Christian HS), sophomore Elisabeth Geenen (Holland Christian HS) and freshman Michelle Busscher (Western Michigan Christian HS) picking up wins at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 singles respectively.

The match then moved to doubles. Calvin (11-3 overall) picked up a win at No. 1 doubles behind the tandem of Oosterhouse and sophomore Rachel Strikwerda (Holland Christian HS) but Luther responded with a win at No. 3 doubles, knotting the match up 4-4. That left the No. 2 doubles match as the deciding point and the Calvin duo of freshman Kaitlin Spoelhof (Holland Christian HS) and sophomore Jill VanVeen (Grand Rapids Christian HS) rose to the challenge with a 9-8 win, closing out the match with a 13-11 victory in the tiebreaker.

Calvin is now 4-3 this year agianst regionally-ranked teams.

Calvin returns to action on Monday when it hosts Olivet at 3:00 p.m. at the Gainey Athletic Complex.

Calvin College 5, 10 Luther College 4
Apr 05, 2008 at Madison, WI

Singles competition
1. Melissa Oosterhouse (CALVINW) def. Molly Beyer (LUTHER) 6-4, 6-2
2. Alana Humpal (LUTHER) def. Kaitlin Spoelhof (CALVINW) 1-6, 6-1, 10-6
3. Elisabeth Geenen (CALVINW) def. Justine Allen (LUTHER) 6-2, 6-2
4. Brynne Zinnecker (LUTHER) def. Rachel Strikwerda (CALVINW) 6-3, 6-4
5. Michelle Busscher (CALVINW) def. Mary Fairfield (LUTHER) 6-3, 6-1
6. Amy Christenson (LUTHER) def. Kelsey Bushhouse (CALVINW) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Melissa Oosterhouse/Rachel Strikwerda (CALVINW) def. Brynne Zinnecker/Molly Beyer (LUTHER) 8-4
2. Kaitlin Spoelhof/Jill VanVeen (CALVINW) def. Alana Humpal/Kathryn Nichols (LUTHER) 9-8 (13-11)
3. Kelsie Allen/Amy Christenson (LUTHER) def. Elisabeth Geenen/Rachel DeGroot (CALVINW) 8-5

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

BIG RAPIDS -- A record-setting performance by senior Ryan Jensen in the hammer throw (Grand Rapids Northview High School) highlighted a day of strong performances by the Calvin men's and women's track and field teams at the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Ferris State University Saturday at the Top Taggert Field.

Jensen broke his own record in the hammer throw with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 177 feet. His previous record had stood at 176-6. Other top marks for Calvin included senior Jared Cok (Bozeman, MT) posting a time of 22.18 in the 200 meters and freshman Alex Wrobel (Arden Hills, MN) a season-best time of 1:57.74 in the 800 meters.

First place performances went to junior Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) in the 1,500 meters (4:00.31) and senior Tad Hulst (Zeeland HS) in the 5,000 meters (15:11.56). Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team of Wrobel, junior Brad Stroner (Lakewood HS), senior Joel Baker (Kalamazoo Christian HS) and Cok also posted a season-best time of 3:23.48.

On the women's side, senior Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids HS) had a big day, winning the 400 meter hurdles with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 1:02.49. She also took second in the 100 meter hurdles with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 14.95. Wittingen also anchored Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team that clocked in with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 3:55.49. She was joined on the relay by sophomore Heather Koning (Kalamazoo Christian HS), junior Kristen VanSickel (Pittsburgh, PA) and junior Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN). Koning added a second place finish in the 400 meters (59.77).

Calvin also took first place in three field events with junior Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA) winning the triple jump (36-0 1/4), sophomore Leigha Oberle (Grand Rapids Christian HS) the discus and sophomore Carla Lindemulder (Lansing, IL) the pole vault (10-6).

Other notables for the Calvin women included junior Calah Schlabach (St. Michaels, AZ) winning the 5,000 meters (17:55.10), junior Anne Fennema (Brookfield, WI) taking second in the 1,500 meters (4:52.33) and senior Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA) taking second in the 3,000 meters (10:26.25).

Both Calvin teams will now prepare to compete at the MIAA jamboree next Saturday at Alma College.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Apr 5 23:44:41 2008