CSR (Calvin Sports Report for April 16, 2008)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 16, 2008

Men's Tennis Tops Hope -Pulls Into Second Place Tie in MIAA Standings;
Baseball Falls Out of First Place in MIAA Standings - Adrian Takes Two;
Softball Splits With Kalamazoo - Tied With Albion For Seventh Place in League
Standings

MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 6, Hope 3

HOLLAND -- Calvin picked up its third straight victory and moved into a tie
for second place in the MIAA standings with a 6-3 victory over rival Hope on
Wednesday afternoon. Calvin (9-5 overall, 3-1 MIAA) took an early 2-1 lead by
winning two of the three doubles points. Calvin picked up wins at No. 2 and No.
3 doubles with senior Ricky Tilton (Gap, PA) and senior Michael Goorhouse
(Holland Christian HS) winning at No. 1 doubles and freshmen Matt and Andrew
DeVlieger (Northpointe Christian HS) winning at No. 3 doubles.

Calvin then took four of the six singles points with the clinching victory
coming at No. 4 singles with Matt DeVlieger defeating Hope's Zach Huber 6-2,
6-2. Also picking up singles victories for Calvin were junior Marcus Zeilstra
(Oak Brook, IL) at No. 2 singles, junior Steve DeMaagd (Calvin Christian HS) at
No. 3 singles and Andrew DeVlieger at No. 6 singles.

Calvin is now tied for second place in the MIAA dual match standings with
Albion and Hope. Hope entered Wednesday's match ranked 17th in the most recent
Central Region rankings while Calvin came in ranked 10th. Calvin is now 4-5
against regionally-ranked teams this year. The Knights will face another
regionally-ranked opponent on Friday when they meet Coe College (IA), ranked
14th in the Central Region at 4:00 p.m. at Kalamazoo College.

Tennis Match Results
Calvin College vs Hope College
Apr 16, 2008 at Holland, MI

Calvin College 6, Hope College 3

 Singles competition
1. John Pelton (HOPE) def. Ricky Tilton (CALVIN) 6-2, 6-3
2. Marcus Zeilstra (CALVIN) def. John Gardner (HOPE) 6-7 (3-6), 6-4, 6-2
3. Steve DeMaagd (CALVIN) def. John Schlotz (HOPE) 6-1, 6-1
4. Matthew De Vlieger (CALVIN) def. Zach Huber (HOPE) 6-2, 6-2
5. Brandon King (HOPE) def. Mike Goorhouse (CALVIN) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
6. Andrew De Vlieger (CALVIN) def. Bradley Boelkins (HOPE) 3-6, 7-5, 10-8

 Doubles competition
1. John Pelton/John Gardner (HOPE) def. Marcus Zeilstra/Steve DeMaagd (CALVIN)
8-6
2. Ricky Tilton/Mike Goorhouse (CALVIN) def. John Schlotz/Zach Huber (HOPE)
8-6
3. Matthew De Vlieger/Andrew De Vlieger (CALVIN) def. Michael Garland/Jeff
Vredenburg (HOPE) 8-5

Match Notes:
Calvin College 9-5, 3-1 MIAA; Regional ranking #10
Hope College 12-7, 3-1 MIAA; Regional ranking #17

MIAA MEN'S TENNIS (DUAL MATCH) STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-08

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

SOFTBALL
Calvin 3, Kalamazoo 1
Kalamazoo 5, Calvin 1

KALAMAZOO -- Calvin split a conference doubleheader with Kalamazoo on
Wednesday, defeating the Hornets 3-1 in the opener before falling 5-1 in the
nightcap. In game one, Calvin junior Kristin Folkerts (Grand Rapids Christian
HS) was the story, striking out a career-high 10 batters while allowing only
three hits.

Calvin (9-20 overall, 3-9 MIAA) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning
on an RBI double by junior Loren Scarbrough (Antioch, IL) and an RBI single by
freshman Jacqueline Kirkman (Oregon, OH). Kalamazoo scored an unearned run in
the second but Calvin added an insurance marker in the third as Scarbrough led
off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kirkman. Folkerts then bore
down to retire 14 of the next 16 batters to record the win.

Calvin picked up 11 hits in the win with Scarbrough, sophomore Whisper Miller
(Reed City HS), junior Brittany Moriarity (Mona Shores HS) and sophomore Jennie
Heidmann (South Christian HS) all collecting two hits apiece.

In game two, Calvin picked up just five hits and committed three errors which
led to three unearned runs. Kalamazoo scored one in the third and three in the
fourth before Calvin was able to plate across a run in the sixth on a on a
passed ball that scored Miller from third base. Kalamazoo (2-16 overall, 1-7
MIAA) came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the sixth however and
kept the Knights off the scoreboard in the seventh for the win.

Miller had two of Calvin's five hits while senior Cori VanKoevering (Unity
Christian HS), sophomore Mandy Johnson (Northpointe Christian HS) and Kirkman
also had hits.

Folkerts (8-16) took the loss, striking out two and walking two while allowing
seven hits.

Calvin returns to action on Monday when it hosts Grand Rapids Community
College in a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.

At 3-9 in league play, Calvin is now tied for seventh place with Albion.
Calvin will host Albion in a doubleheader next Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-08 GAMES

Alma 8-1
Tri-State 5-1
Saint Mary's 6-2
Hope 5-3
Adrian 6-4
Olivet 4-5
Albion 3-9
Calvin 3-9
Kalamazoo 1-7

BASEBALL (written by Bruce VanBaren '09)
Adrian 5, Calvin 2
Adrian 5, Calvin 2

Playing four games in two days, the Adrian Bulldogs swept a double header from
the Knights Wednesday after taking two from Hope on Tuesday. Adrian knocks
Calvin out of first place for the first time this season, winning both games
5-2 and giving Calvin starters juniors Nate Pocock (Wayland, MA/ Wayland) and
Kyle Cousins (Holland/Holland Christian) each their first loss of the season.

After a perfect 10-0 start in MIAA play, Calvin has now lost three straight
games, including the second half of a double header at Tri-State on Monday.
Adrian is now 12-2 in the league and Calvin is 10-3, a game and a half out of
first place. It is the first losing streak of the season for Calvin, who is
slumping both offensively and defensively.

“At any point in a season of forty games you’re going to have a couple
where you don’t execute how you want to,” said coach John Sparks. “You
have to pull yourself out of it. We’re still right in the thick of things.
The two losses today, they hurt, but they don’t damage our chances of winning
the league championship.”

In game one, the Knights committed five errors to allow Nate Pocock to be beat
around for the first time this season. He went the distance surrendering five
runs, but only three were earned and fell to 5-1 on the season.

“Baseball is funny in that one day you can be playing great; you don’t
think you change anything and you lose a couple games,” said Pocock who
struck out seven in the loss. “We can still hit, we can still field and we
can still pitch.”

Junior third baseman Jason May (Chicago, IL/Walther Lutheran) and junior
center fielder Drew Johnson (Boise, ID/ Mountainview) knocked in runs in the
second to give Calvin a 2-0 lead. Adrian tied it in the top half of the third
as Kris Powell singled to left-center and Brian Rickstad doubled to
right-center.

Adrian carried their offense to the fourth as Steve Vanderheyden led off with
a home run over the left field fence and Todd Meyers singled home Alexander
Younce, who reached and advance into scoring position on two errors.

“[Adrian] came in here and was ready to play and capitalized on our
mistakes,” said Pocock. Calvin’s league best offense was dormant over the
final four frames.

“I think we gave a fine effort,” said Pocock. “It’s my job to go out
there and make sure we’re back in the dugout as soon as possible. I’m out
there for long innings then I know that I’m not trying hard enough to help
this team win. I got a little frustrated at myself and I know those guys were
fighting every minute out there.”

Adrian maintained the offensive production in game two, rattling Cousins for
five runs on ten hits over 61/3 innings. Cousins who walked two and struck out
two had an ERA of 1.88 entering the game and falls to 4-1.

He was spectacular through most of the game, but the Bulldogs got to him in a
three run fourth inning after Cousins allowed the first four batters to reach.
Nick Sarkissian and Younce singled home runs and Meyers sent home the third run
on a sacrifice fly.

Senior catcher Kyle Fletcher (Fort Wayne, IN/ Concordia Lutheran) was 3 for 4
in the game, but only three other Knights picked up hits as Calvin was held to
six hits for the second straight game.

“The first game was disappointing defensively, the second was better,”
said Sparks. “Hitting-wise we popped way too much stuff up. That’s
something we haven’t really done all year. The strength of their team is
their outfield and if you put it in the air there’s a good chance it’s
going to be caught. We made it way to easy on them.”

Calvin will travel to Adrian on Saturday, sending two more unblemished records
to the mound in freshman starters Keith Spoelstra (3-0) and Peter Steiner
(4-0).

“I think we just focus on the little things [to break out of this losing
streak],” said Sparks. “It was the little fundamental things that lost the
game for us today. You focus on those little things and when you execute those
you hope it pulls you out of this [slump].”

It was the first time this year Calvin was swept in a double-header and the
first time this year they will play a game from second place. Saturday’s
double header will start at 1pm.

“We’re not really concerned at all with the standings, we’d rather be
playing good ball,” said Pocock. “We still think we’re in good shape.
We’ve been playing real strong ball, the challenge now is not necessarily
remembering how we play- it’s digging our way out and just clearing the slate
and going out and getting the job done.”

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-16-08 GAMES

Adrian 12-2
Calvin 10-3
Olivet 8-3
Albion 8-10
Kalamazoo 4-8
Alma 3-6
Tri-State 5-12
Hope 4-10

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Apr 16 22:30:59 2008