CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for March 24, 2014)

From: Jeffrey Febus <jfebus@calvin.edu>
Date: Mon Mar 24 2014 - 23:24:07 EDT

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 24, 2014

Softball Opens Spring Trip With Pair of Victories;
Baseball Splits Twinbill With Kalamazoo;
Tennis Teams Have Mixed Results With Elmhurst in Florida;
Cochran Hits Mlive.com/Grand Rapids Press Top Spot in College Performances of the Week

SOFTBALL
Calvin 8, Elmhurst 0
Calvin 5, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1

CLERMONT, FL - The Calvin softball team opened up its season with a pair of victories on Monday, defeating Elmhurst College 8-0 in mercy-rule fashion and then defeating Wisconsin-Oshkosh 5-3 in a late-inning comeback effort.

In the win against Elmhurst (3-4), senior Lina Avila (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian HS) blasted a pair of home runs - a two-run shot in the first and a four-run blast in the fourth that enabled the Knights to bolt out to an 8-0 lead.

Junior Christie VanderMeer (Grandville/Grandville HS) along with senior Janelle Agren (Cadillac/Cadillac HS), Avila and sophomore Ashley Riemersma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) all had two hits apiece in the win.

Freshman Cassidy Vlot (Chowchilla, CA/Chowchilla HS) tossed the shutout in the pitcher's circle to improve her season record to 1-1.

With her pair of home runs, Avila boosted her career total to 27 which stands atop the Calvin career list.

Calvin then defeated a Wisconsin-Oshkosh team that had finished 26-11 a year ago. Calvin grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as VanderMeer led off with a single and later scored on a double by Vlot.

Calvin regained the lead at 2-1 in the third on an RBI single by Vlot that plated freshman Kendal Bayer (Howell/Howell HS) who led off the inning with a walk.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh (5-3) came back with two unearned runs in the top of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead but Calvin responded in the sixth with three runs of its own.

The rally in the sixth began with a leadoff solo home run by Riemersma that tied the score 3-3. Junior Merin Cok (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Bayer later reached base with singles. VanderMeer then hit into a fielder's choice but promptly stole second to place two runners in scoring position.

Pollock then came through with the clutch hit of the game, rifling a single to right-center that brough home Cok and VanderMeer with the go-ahead runs.

Senior Caitlin Callow (Rochester/Muskegon Catholic Central HS) then retired the Titans in order in the seventh to up her season record to 2-0.

Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it faces Colby College at 9 a.m. and the University of Chicago at 11 a.m.

BASEBALL
Kalamazoo 4, Calvin 3
Calvin 15, Kalamazoo 1

WINTER HAVEN, FL - Playing a rare conference doubleheader out-of-state, Calvin came up with a split against the Hornets of Kalamazoo. In the opener, Calvin dropped a 4-3 decision and then came back to claim a 15-1 triumph in game two.

Monday's doubleheader was part of a four-game conference series. It began with a single game on March 14 at Davenport University with the hopes of continuing the series the following week but weather cancelled those plans. With both teams competing in spring break ball in the same location, the decision was made to play the next two games of the series in Florida. The final game is set to be played on March 31 at Kalamazoo.

In Monday's opener, Calvin (6-4 overall, 2-1 MIAA) stumbled early as the Hornets scored two runs in the first, using a walk, an error and a two-run RBI double.

Kalamazoo scored another run in the second to build a 3-0 lead. Calvin came back with a run of its own in the bottom half of the second, using a Kalamazoo error to do so.

In the fourth, sophomore J.R. Frederick (Valparaiso, IN/Chesterton HS) delivered a two-run RBI single to tie the game 3-3.

Neither team was able to score until the top of the seventh when the Hornets put together back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and then plated across a run on a Calvin throwing error on a sacrifice bunt.

Trailing by a run, Calvin put its first two hitters aboard as junior Ben Wohl (Canton/Plymouth HS) led off with a single and junior Grant VanPutten (Holland/Holland Christian HS) followed with a walk. A strikeout and a game-ending double-play extinguished the Calvin threat and gave Kalamazoo the win.

Junior Nate Schepers (Holland/Holland Christian HS) went the first six innings for the Knights. Junior Ben Guilfoyle (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield East HS) took the loss for Calvin in relief.

In game two, the Calvin bats exploded for 16 hits as the Knights scored nine runs in the first three innings of play. Wohl and senior Matt Schepel (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) had three hits apiece. Junior Peter Cupery (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and sophomore Michael Kamp (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) had two hits apiece.

Sophomore Travis Kraai (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) drove in three runs while VanPutten went 2-for-4, scored four runs and had a double.

Senior Cory Laster (Ludington/Ludington HS) went the first five innings to pick up the win, evening his record at 1-1 on the year. Senior Jeff Victor (Holland/Holland Christian HS) tossed two shutout innings of relief to close out the win.

Calvin will complete its spring trip on Tuesday morning when it takes on Elmhurst College at 9:30 a.m.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Elmhurst 1

ORLANDO, FL - The Calvin women's tennis team picked up its second win of the season with an 8-1 victory over Elmhurst College on Monday.

Playing in its first match in nine days, Calvin rolled to three wins in doubles play as junior Megan Visser (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) and freshman Claire Spoelhof (Holland/Holland Christian HS) won 8-2 at one doubles, senior Bethany Zoerhof (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and freshman Ellie Benzel (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas HS) won 8-2 at two doubles and freshman Liz Turner (Audobon, PA/Delaware County Christian HS) and junior Courtney Selvius (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) won 8-3 at three doubles.

In singles play, Visser won a quick 6-1, 6-1 decision at one singles while Zoerhof held off her opponent 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 at three singles. Benzel, Turner and Selvius won straight set decision at four, five and six singles respectively.

Calvin returns to the courts on Tuesday for a pair of matches as the Knights take on Hamilton of New York at 9 a.m. and Luther College of Iowa at 2 p.m.

MEN'S TENNIS
Elmhurst 9, Calvin 0

ORLANDO, FL - Calvin dropped a 9-0 decision to Elmhurst on Monday to fall to 2-3 on the season.

Elmhurst stormed out of the gates with quick wins in doubles play and then handed Calvin six successive defeats in straight sets in singles play.

Calvin will seek to rebound on Wednesday when it takes on Hamline College of Minnesota in an 11 a.m. match.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

The weekly Grand Rapids Press Top 5 College Performances of the Week is again out and Calvin sophomore Johnson Cochran has gone to the top of the charts. To read more, visit the Mlive.com/Grand Rapids Press website at: http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2014/03/top_5_college_performances_cal.html
Received on Mon Mar 24 23:26:16 2014

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