CSR (Baseball Defeats Rochester/Softball Swept by Alma)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR April 24, 2008

Baseball Defeats Rochester;
Softball Swept by Alma

BASEBALL

Calvin 10, Rochester 5

GRAND RAPIDS - Coming off of an impressive conference sweep against Olivet on
Tuesday, the Knights were back in action at Calvin Field against Rochester
College in a non-conference match-up. Calvin put on an offensive display
scoring ten runs off fourteen hits and coasted to its twenty-second victory of
the season.

Calvin got on the scoreboard first with two outs in the bottom of the first
inning. Pieter Groot's (Uxbridge, MA/Whitinsville Christian) two out RBI single
that knocked in Matt Schepel (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) was the
first of six runs scored in the afternoon with two outs.

"We've tended to do well all season on offense with two outs," said Calvin
head coach John Sparks. "It's always an encouraging and good thing when you can
produce with two outs and we did a good job of that again today."

Calvin then went on to score three more runs in the next two innings giving
starting pitcher Scott Larsen (Hastings/Hastings) a comfortable 4-0 lead. Kyle
Gurzynski's (Ludington/Ludington) single up the middle in the second inning
sent Drew Johnson (Boise, ID/Mountainview) and Mike Stob (Caledonia/South
Christian) around to score. In the third inning, Alex Marcus (Willmar,
MN/Willmar Sr.) blasted his single season personal best fourth home run of the
year well beyond the left field fence.

In the fifth inning, Larsen found himself in some trouble after giving up back
to back singles to start the inning. After getting Rochester's third batter to
foul out to the first baseman, Sparks called on freshman pitcher Jeff
Groenewold (Chicago, IL/Timothy Christian) for relief. Groenewold allowed both
of Larsen's baserunners to score and gave up another run of his own. By the
middle of the fifth inning, the Knights clung to a 4-3 lead.

But Calvin came right back in the fifth and scored another run off a Brad
Brummel (Byron Center/South Christian) single that scored Stob. The Knights
struck again in the sixth and exploded for four more runs; three of which came
with two outs. Stob knocked in the first run with a double and then Brummel
added another RBI with a single to center field. Gurzynski then knocked in one
of his three runs for the afternoon which was followed by Schepel's 35th RBI of
the year--a new Calvin College single season record.

Leading 9-3, Calvin added another run in the seventh when Brummel knocked in
his third RBI of the game sending Jason May (Chicago/Walter Lutheran) across
home plate.

Although giving up 13 hits, Calvin's pitchers did a nice job throwing strikes
and forcing Rochester to earn its baserunners. Larsen lasted four and a third
allowing two runs while striking out six and Groenewold picked up his first win
of the season going two and two-thirds giving up one run while fanning two
Rochester batters.

Freshman Keith Spoelstra (Oakland, NJ/Eastern Christian) and sophomore Chad
Epker (Winthrop Harbor, IL/Zion-Benton) each pitched an inning to round out the
pitching for the Knights. Spoelstra struck out all three batters he faced and
Epker gave up a pair of runs in the top of the ninth.

Overall, Sparks was happy the way his team pitched and played defense. "We've
been playing well defensively and our defense has picked it up," he said. "Our
pitchers threw strikes and while we did leave some stuff up there for them to
hit, we didn't walk anybody and we made them hit the ball. That's something
I've preached about all year."

For Rochester, freshman Matt Sutherland was credited with the loss.

With the season starting to wind down with Calvin facing its last two weeks of
regular season baseball, the Knights are in a good spot as they remain only a
half game behind league leading Adrian. "We've put ourselves in a good spot and
are feeling good," said Sparks. "It's definitely exciting to be playing for the
league title this late in the season. If we can keep winning, we put the
pressure on them [Adrian] to keep winning."

Calvin (22-6 overall, 13-4 MIAA) will look to continue winning in the
conference as it returns to MIAA action Saturday by travelling to Olivet for a
doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

For a feature story on first-year Calvin pitching coach Matt Vriesenga, please
visit the Calvin web site at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/releases/2007_08/MattVriesengaFeature.htm

For an audio interview with Vreisenga, please visit the Calvin web site at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/releases/2007_08/MattVriesenga042408.mp3

Calvin is also now ranked fifth in the most recent NCAA III Mideast Regional
Rankings. The rankings can be found on-line at:
http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/default.aspx?id=212508

SOFTBALL
Alma 3, Calvin 2
Alma 5, Calvin 0

ALMA - Calvin dropped both ends of a doubleheader at league-leading Alma
Thursday afternoon, falling 3-2 and 5-0.

With the result, Calvin finishes in seventh place in the final MIAA standings
with a 5-11 conference mark. The Knights are currently 11-22 heading into a
season-ending non-conference doubleheader with Case Western Reserve. The
doubleheader with Case Western will begin at noon and will take place at
Calvin’s Gainey Field.

In game one against Alma Tuesday, Calvin nearly pulled the upset against the
host Scots, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by junior Loren Scarbrough
(Antioch, IL) in the top of the fourth inning. Alma answered back with three
runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead but the Knights closed to
within one with a run in the sixth on an RBI single by senior Sam Ehlert
(Rockford HS). Calvin then placed the tying run on second base with one out in
the seventh but left the runner stranded.

Junior Kristin Folkerts (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took the loss to fall to
9-17 despite allowing only five hits. In addition, all three runs scored by the
Scots were unearned as the Knights committed two errors in the bottom of the
fifth inning.

Calvin had six hits in the loss with Scarbrough going 2-for-3 at the plate.

In game two, Alma rapped out 12 hits and took control early, scoring twice in
the first and once in the third. The Scots then tacked on two insurance runs in
the fourth and cruised from there. Sophomore Mandy Johnson (Northpointe
Christian HS) took the loss for Calvin to fall to 2-5 on the year. Calvin had
five hits in the loss. Sophomore Whisper Miller (Reed City HS) also reached
base and later swiped her team-leading 16th base of the season.

MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-24-08 GAMES

Alma 11-2
Tri-State 10-2
Saint Mary’s 11-3
Hope 9-5
Adrian 6-6
Olivet 6-9
Calvin 5-11
Albion 4-12
Kalamazoo 1-13

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Apr 25 01:04:47 2008