CSR (Baseball Takes Two at Albion/Men's Tennis Splits GLCA Matches/Softball Defeated by UW-Oshkosh at IWU Tourney)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR April 8, 2011
 
Baseball Takes Two at Albion;
Men's Tennis Splits GLCA Matches;
Softball Defeated by Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Illinois Wesleyan Tournament
 
BASEBALL
Calvin 7, Albion 5
Calvin 9, Albion 2
 
ALBION - Calvin moved into a tie for third place in the MIAA baseball standings with a doubleheader sweep at Albion Friday afternoon. Calvin claimed game one 7-5 behind a complete-game pitching performance from senior Keith Spoelstra and then took game two 9-2 behind a complete-game pitching effort from senior Peter Steiner. The Knights are now 9-10 overall and 5-5 in the MIAA standings, good for tie for third place with rival Hope.
 
Calvin jumped out to big leads in both games to gain early momentum. In game one, Calvin built a 5-1 lead behind the bat of Steiner who drove in a first inning run with a sacrifice fly and later scored in the third on a wild pitch after reaching base on a two-out triple. After Albion close the deficit to 5-2, Calvin scored two important insurance runs in the top of the seventh as senior Andrew Bosma singled and Steiner doubled with two outs. Both runners then scored on an infield throwing error. The two unearned runs proved to be pivotal as Albion's Chuck DeClarke belted a three-run homer to bring the Brits within 7-5. After allowing another Albion batter to reach base, Spoelstra bore down to retire the side on two strikeouts and a pop-up to gain his third victory of the year against two defeats. Spoelstra struck out five and did not walk a batter in the win. Sophomore Ben Cok went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Calvin while Bosma and Steiner had two hits apiece.
 
In game two, Calvin used five Albion errors to score five unearned runs. Calvin scored three runs in the top of the second and added another in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Albion countered with a run in the bottom half of the third on an other DeClarke homerun but the Knights broke the game open with five runs in the fourth to put the game away. Bosma and sophomore Tyler Tos were both 2-for-4 in the game two win while Steiner struck out three in picking up his second win against two defeats this spring.
 
The two teams will close out the four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Calvin scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
 
MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-8-11 GAMES
 
Adrian 9-1
Kalamazoo 4-2
Calvin 5-5
Hope 5-5
Albion 4-6
Olivet 4-6
Alma 3-5
Trine 2-6
 
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Ohio Wesleyan 1
Carnegie Mellon 6, Calvin 1
 
LANSING - The Calvin men's tennis team split a pair of matches at the GLCA Tournament on Friday, defeating Ohio Wesleyan 8-1 before falling to nationally-ranked Carnegie Mellon 6-1. The Knights will face Oberlin College in a Saturday morning match at 9 a.m. at the Markin (indoor) Tennis Center on the campus of Kalamazoo College.
 
Both of Calvin's matches on Friday took place inside the Michigan Athletic Club in Lansing and the Knights got off to a roaring start with the win over Ohio Wesleyan. Calvin swept all three doubles points with senior Roland Eldridge and sophomore Preston Phillips winning at No. 1 doubles, senior Andrew DeVlieger and sophomore Philip Reinken winning at No. 2 doubles and sophomore Brian DeMaagd and freshman Loukas Peterson winning at No. 3 doubles. Calvin then picked up singles victories from Eldridge at No. 2 singles, DeMaagd at No. 3 singles, Phillipos at No. 4 singles, Peterson at No. 5 singles and Reinken at No. 6 singles.
 
The Knights then took on 17th-ranked Carnegie Mellon, the top seeded team in the tournament. Carnegie Mellon took two of the three doubles points with Calvin's No. 3 tandem of DeMaagd and Peterson winning an 8-4 decision. Carnegie Mellon then clinched the match however with four successive singles victories.
 
Calvin is now 9-6 on the year heading into its Saturday morning match against Oberlin.
 
SOFTBALL
 
BLOOMINGTON, IL - The Calvin softball team dropped its opening game at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament, falling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh 7-4. Oshkosh scored two runs in the firt, two in th second and one in the third to grab a 5-0 lead. Calvin came back with a run in the fourth and three in the sixth as junior Marie Prins hit her second homerun of the season while freshman Lina Avila belted a three-run homer - her fifth of the year in the sixth. Oshkosh (13-5) scored single runs in the fifth and sixth however to stay ahead of the Knights.
 
Sophomore Shelby Mast (1-6) took the loss for Calvin, striking out six and walking three in six innings of work. Calvin was scheduled to face Fontbonne University this evening but results of that game were not yet available.
 
The Knights will face host Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday at 10 a.m. followed by a 2 p.m. rematch against Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Received on Fri Apr 8 22:48:49 2011