CSR (Baseball Sweeps Albion To Move Back Into First Place of MIAA Standings)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 2, 2008 (PART ONE)

Baseball Sweeps Albion -- Moves Back Into First Place in MIAA Standings

BASEBALL
Calvin 4, Albion 1
Calvin 5, Albion 2

ALBION -- The Calvin baseball team completed a four-game sweep of the Albion Britons on Friday afternoon and in doing so, moved back into first place in the MIAA standings, a half-game ahead of Adrian. Calvin took Friday's opener over Albion 4-1 and then posted a 5-2 win in the nightcap. Calvin had opened the series on Wednesday with 12-3 and 4-3 victories over Albion in games played in Grand Rapids. Ranked 22nd nationally, Calvin is now 27-8 overall and more importantly 18-5 in league play with Adrian currently in second place with a 17-5 league record. Adrian is scheduled to host Olivet in a conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

Calvin has a make-up game with Tri-State on Monday at 4:30 p.m. and will then close out its MIAA campaign with four games with Kalamazoo later in the week. Adrian will close out its MIAA schedule next week with four games against Alma.

In game one Friday against Albion, Calvin took a 1-0 lead on an run-scoring single by senior Kyle Fletcher (Fort Wayne, IN) in the top of the first inning that scored junior Jacob Vriesman (Denver, CO). In the top of the fourth, sophomore Matt Schepel (Grand Rapids Christian HS) led off the inning with a solo home run - his record-breaking ninth of the year, surpassing the previous mark of eight set by Tim Montsma. The homerun was also the 51st hit of the season for Schepel, tying him for the Calvin single-season hit record of 51 set by Josh Vriesman in 2002. Junior Chris Blacklidge (Comstock Park HS) later singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Alex Marcus (Willmar, MN) to give the Knights a 3-0 advantage. Calvin tacked on an insurance run in the sixth as Blacklidge singled, stole second base and then scored on a single by senior Pieter Groot (I(Uxbridge, MA).

In the seventh, Albion scored once but left a runner stranded as freshman Peter Steiner (Chicago, IL) worked his way out of a jam to record his seventh victory of the season against no defeats. Steiner was superb for the Knights, allowing only four hits while striking out three and walking only one.

In game two, Calvin broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth on a run-scoring triple by Marcus. Marcus then scored on a passed ball. Albion answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth but Calvin came back with three in the top of the sixth with Fletcher collecting a sacrifice fly and Marcus an RBI single in the inning.

Albion added a single run in the bottom half of the sixth but freshman starter Keith Spoelstra (Oakdale, NJ) was able to get out of the inning on a ground ball double-play. Spoelstra then set the Britons down in order in the bottom of the seventh to notch his fourth win of the year against only one defeat. Spoelstra struck out two, walked two and scattered six hits. Calvin picked up seven hits in the triumph with Blacklidge and Marcus collecting two hits apiece.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 5-2-08 GAMES

Calvin 18-5
Adrian 17-5
Olivet 13-9
Hope 8-12
Kalamazoo 8-12
Albion 11-17
Tri-State 8-15
Alma 6-14

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri May 2 19:20:51 2008