CKSR (Baseball Picks Up Conference Victory at Kalamazoo/Softball Splits With Aquinas/Tim Marco is Offensive Player of the Week in Men's Lacrosse)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 7, 2014

Baseball Picks Up Conference Victory at Kalamazoo;
Softball Splits With Aquinas;
Tim Marco Named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week in Men's Lacrosse

BASEBALL
Calvin 3, Kalamazoo 2

KALAMAZOO - The Calvin baseball team picked up a 3-2 conference victory at Kalamazoo Monday afternoon to finally complete a four-game series that began back on March 14 and was repeatedly delayed by weather conditions.

The victory evens Calvin's MIAA record at 6-6 and improves the Knights to 11-9 overall.

Playing in its fifth game in four days, Calvin went to its bullpen for pitching help on Monday and the bullpen delivered.

Normal relief closer Jeff Victor (Holland/Holland Christian HS) started the game and went the first four innings, allowing just one run while striking out five batters. Victor (2-0) was staked to a 3-1 lead as the Knights scored a pair of runs in the third and one in the fourth.

Calvin's first run came on a throwing error and its second came home on an RBI single by senior Matt Schepel (Grand Rapid/Grand Rapids Christian HS).

Sophomore Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS) later scored in the fourth after leading off with a single, stealing second base, moving to third on a wild pitch and scoring on the throw.

Kalamazoo (6-13 overall, 4-7 MIAA) scored a run in the sixth and placed its leadoff runner on second in the seventh but senior pitcher Cory Laster (Ludington HS) was able to get two strikeouts and a groundout to stamp out the threat.

In the sixth, Laster came on in relief of sophomore Kyle Wasserberger (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) and promptly picked a man off second to gain the second out of the inning.

Laster went the final 1.2 innings of the game on the mound for the Knights to earn his first collegiate save.

Calvin had just four hits - including a double by senior Kyle Spoelma (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) - but the Knights also earned three walks and capitalized on three Kalamazoo errors.

The Knights return to action Tuesday night when they travel to Cornerstone University for a non-conference game slated to start at 6 p.m.

SOFTBALL
Aquinas 8, Calvin 3
Calvin 6, Aquinas 1
By John Leerar

GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin women's softball team split a twinbill against the visiting Saints of Aquinas College on Monday at Gainey Athletic Complex. The Knights lost the first game 8-3 before recovering to take the second game 6-1.

Aquinas scored first in the first game with a run in the top of the first, but the Knights came back with two in the bottom of the inning and were leading 2-1.

The Saints then scored seven unanswered runs to retake the lead in the ballgame.

Sophomore Lydia Gildea (Gobles/Gobles HS) struck a solo home run to right in the bottom of the 7th, but it was not enough as the Knights fell 8-3.

Freshman Cassidy Vlot (Chowchilla, CA/Chowchilla HS) took the loss for Calvin, falling to 7-3 on the year.

Freshman Paige Groom (Potterville/Potterville HS) pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Knights.

In game two, Calvin used the strength of its power bats to triumph over the Saints.

The Knights scored one in the first and two in the second to take a 3-0 lead.

The score would remain the same until the 6th, when Aquinas scored one and looked ready to score more with the bases loaded and one out. A double play, however, would allow the Knights to escape the inning still leading by two runs.

Calvin would score three more in the bottom of the 6th, leading to a final score of 6-1 in favor of the Knights.

Senior Caitlin Callow (Rochester/Muskegon Catholic Central HS) pitched a complete-game gem, giving up 5 hits while not allowing an earned run. She improves her record to 6-3 on the year.

Senior Lina Avila (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian HS) smacked a home run for the Knights, while junior Merin Cok (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) had two dingers in the game.

With the win, Calvin improves to 13-6 on the year.
The Knights are back in action on Wednesday, April 9, when they will travel to Olivet for an MIAA doubleheader.

MEN'S LACROSSE

ROYAL OAK, Mich. - The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association has named Calvin attacker Tim Marco its MIAA Offensive Player of the Week in men's lacrosse for matches played through April 6.
Marco, a junior from Grand Rapids (GR Christian HS), scored nine goals and added an assist in two games for the Knights for the week. He scored three unassisted goals in a 17-6 loss to Adrian, then scored six goals on six shots and added an assist in a 17-9 loss to Baldwin Wallace, Ohio. Marco is being honored as Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

Calvin returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Albion at 4 p.m. at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
Received on Tue Apr 8 00:23:10 2014