CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 10, 2009
Baseball Splits With Alma;
Men's Tennis Splits on First Day at GLCA Tournament
BASEBALL
Calvin 6, Alma 5
Alma 4, Calvin 0
(Written by Chaz Amidon)
GRAND RAPIDS – The Knights finally rose above the .500 mark on Friday afternoon
– though, only for about two hours.
After Calvin snubbed Alma’s late-inning comeback in Game One, the Scots’ Sam
Shipman (3-2) threw a complete-game shutout in the second en route to a 4-0
victory over the third-place Knights (10-10, 7-3).
Calvin’s Ben Sietsema (Ada/Northpointe Christian) picked up his fourth win of
the season in Game One, where the Knights used a four-run second inning to
catalyze a 6-5 win. But Alma held Calvin to 11 consecutive scoreless innings,
and the Knights were saddled by six combined errors on a windy afternoon at
Calvin Field.
“It was a disappointing game, both from an offensive and defensive standpoint,”
said Calvin head coach John Sparks.
Peter Steiner (Chicago, Ill./Glenbrook South) was riddled with his first
collegiate loss in Game Two. He hurled a complete game, allowing six hits and
just two earned runs. The two unearned runs resulted from a pair of infield
errors.
Alma’s Jeremy Stephens, who averaged .491 at the plate entering Friday, drove
in a run-scoring single in the third inning, while Craig Brohl laid down a
sacrifice bunt in the sixth to account for the Scots’ final earned run of the
game.
“We know we shouldn’t drop games like this,” said Nate Pocock (Wayland,
Mass./Wayland). “At times, every part of our team has been inconsistent –
hitting, pitching. So we know we need to put together complete games.”
Calvin committed a season-worst five errors in Game Two. The Knights combined
to hit just 5-of-24 (.208) from the plate as Kyle Cousins (Holland/Holland
Christian) was the lone batter to turn in a multi-hit performance, going
2-for-3 with a pair of singles.
In Game One, Cousins similarly paced Calvin with a 2-for-4 outing, belting a
single in the first and a double in the Knights’ second-inning scoring spurt.
Kyle Gurzynski (Ludington/Ludington) had a sac fly RBI in foul territory to
start the inning and Matt Schepel (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) crushed
a two-RBI double to score both Cousins and freshman Jake Van Alten
(Douglas/Holland Christian).
Alma crawled back in the sixth when Bobby Chasney and Jay Sackett each ripped
RBI singles to cut Calvin’s lead to 6-5, but Zach Thomas (Bradenton,
Fla./Bradenton Christian) recorded his first collegiate save by retiring three
Scots in the seventh to secure Sietsema’s win.
“That’s been an area of concern recently, starting hot and cooling off,” said
Pocock, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI-single in Game One. “We don’t seem to get
runs later in games. I think that the team knows what we have to do.”
Sietsema (4-1) was shelled for 11 hits in the opener, although he dished out a
season best six strikeouts. Steiner (3-1), on the other hand, fanned two and
walked two as the Scots put a dent in his 11-0 all-time record heading into
Friday.
“Peter pitched well enough to win, that’s for sure,” said Sparks. “You take a
way the defensive miscues, we score a few runs, and we probably win the game.”
Calvin will travel to Alma tomorrow to wrap up its season series with the Scots
in a doubleheader that begins at 1:00 p.m.
“We still have a chance to win this series, although the second loss was
disappointing,” said Sparks. “We kind of have to regroup and put that one
behind us now, and go up there tomorrow ready to get a couple.”
“If we can keep winning series, we at least give ourselves a chance in a series
with Adrian and Olivet, to do some damage.”
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 5, Oberlin 0
DePauw 5, Calvin 2
GREENCASTLE, IN -- The Calvin men's tennis team split a pair of matches on the
first day of competition at the GLCA Tournament hosted by DePauw University
Friday afternoon, defeating Oberlin 5-0 and then falling5-2. The Knight are now 12-3 on the year and will play two additional matches
at the two-day tournament on Saturday.
Calvin 5, Oberlin 0
at DePauw University
SINGLES--3. Matt DeVlieger (C) d. Eliot Heaton 6-0, 6-1; 6. Andrew Rescorla (C)
d. Peder Davis 6-1, 6-0 -- Remaining Matches Unfinished.
DOUBLES--1. Marcus Zeilstra/Steve DeMaagd (C) d. Ben Godlove/Joe Leffler 8-5;
2. Rescorla/Nick Steenstra (C) d. Eliot Heaton/Peder Davis 8-1; 3. David
Hillner/Roland Eldridge (C) d. James Blankeship/Sam Towne 8-3
DePauw University 5, Calvin College 2
Singles competition
1. Scott Swanson (DEPAUW) def. Marcus Zeilstra (CALVINM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Scott Sandager (DEPAUW) def. Steve DeMaagd (CALVINM) 6-3, 6-4
3. Hunter Schouweiler (DEPAUW) vs. Matthew De Vlieger (CALVINM) 6-3, 5-2,
unfinished
4. Bryan Heck (DEPAUW) def. Andrew De Vlieger (CALVINM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Nick Steenstra (CALVINM) def. Michael Rardon (DEPAUW) 6-2, 6-3
6. Evan Hunter (DEPAUW) vs. Andrew Rescorla (CALVINM) 3-6, 3-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Marcus Zeilstra/Steve DeMaagd (CALVINM) def. Bryan Heck/Scott Sandager
(DEPAUW) 8-4
2. Will Gates/Hunter Schouweiler (DEPAUW) def. Nick Steenstra/Andrew Rescorla
(CALVINM) 9-7
3. Michael Rardon/Scott Swanson (DEPAUW) def. Matthew De Vlieger/Andrew De
Vlieger (CALVINM) 9-7
Match Notes:
DePauw University 15-2; National ranking #18
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Apr 10 23:08:08 2009
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