CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 24, 2014
Baseball Sweeps Twinbill From Trine;
Women's Lacrosse Edged at Alma;
Men's Tennis Defeated by Spring Arbor
BASEBALL
Calvin 9, Trine 3
Calvin 5, Trine 4 (9 innings)
ANGOLA, IN - The Calvin baseball team continued its late-season surge with a doubleheader sweep at conference foe Trine University Thursday afternoon, claiming game one 9-3 and game two 5-4 in nine innings.
The Knights are now 20-12 overall, having won eight of their last nine games. Calvin also remains in second place in the MIAA standings at 14-8, two clear of rival Hope.
In game one, Calvin broke open a tight game with four late runs to pull away for the win. The Knights were aided by five Trine errors that led to six unearned runs.
Calvin collected 14 hits in the game one win with five players recording multi-hit games. Picking up two hits apiece were junior Grant Van Putten (Holland/Holland Christian HS), junior Ben Wohl (Canton/Plymouth HS), senior Matt Schepel (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), sophomore Jalen Bouma (Ann Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) and sophomore Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS).
Bouma and sophomore Travis Kraai (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) were both credited with two runs batted in.
Sophomore Kyle Wasserberger (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) picked up the win in relief of starter Peter Cupery (Holland/Holland Christian HS) to move to 3-0 on the year while freshman Mike Militelo (Commerce/Detroit Catholic Central HS) tossed 1.1 innings of shutout relief.
In game two, Calvin needed late-inning heroics as the Knights trailed 4-1 in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Kraai ignited a rally by reaching base on an error and moved to second on an infield single by Van Putten. Wohl then delivered an RBI single that scored Kraai to make it 4-2. With two outs, Van Putten and Wohl pulled off a double steal to place runners on second and third. The move paid off as Cupery slapped a single to right that scored both runners to tie the game 4-4.
Trine was unable to score in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra-innings where the host Thunder had compiled a 5-1 season record in 2014. Calvin came away the winner however as sophomore Michael Kamp (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) led off the ninth with an infield single. Cupery and Bouma later walked to load the bases and Kamp was able to scamper home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the ninth, relief pitcher Jeff Victor (Holland/Holland Christian HS) gave up a lead-off walk but stranded the potential game-tying run by getting a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to allow the Knights to pick up the pivotal win.
Victor (4-0) picked up the win in relief of starter Nate Schepers (Holland/Holland Christian HS). Victor allowed only one hit in 2.1 innings of relief. Schepers allowed four runs but only one was earned.
Wohl was 3-for-4 at the plate for Calvin while Cupery was 2-for-3 and Jordan VanderWall 2-for-5.
The two teams will resume their four-game series on Saturday at Calvin Field with a doubleheader slated to start at 1 p.m.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Alma 16, Calvin 14
By Mark DeHaan
With a spot in the MIAA Tournament already secured, the Calvin women's lacrosse program traveled to Alma with hopes of hosting a first round matchup, a scenario that would happen with a victory over the Scots. Calvin and Alma entered the contest with 5-1 league records and tied for second place in the MIAA.
Unfortunately for the Knights, a run at the end of the first half by the Scots put the home team up five goals at halftime, a deficit which proved to be too much as Calvin fell to Alma, 16-14.
The Scots were first to get on the board as they scored just over a minute into the contest, but junior Lissa Busscher responded quickly for the Knights to tie the game at 1-1 with 28:05 to go in the first half.
After eight scoreless minutes, junior Paige Noordyke scored a goal to put Calvin up 2-1, a lead that was held for less than a minute as Tracy Gallihugh responded for Alma.
Back-to-back goals by Noordyke and freshman Audrey Grabowski put the Knights up 4-2 midway through the first half, but Gallihugh netted four goals and Alma's Ashton Street scored another over the next seven minutes as the Scots took a 7-4 lead with 7:12 left in the first.
Over the remaining time in the first half, Alma continued its scoring surge, and at half time, the Scots held an 11-6 lead.
Alma outshot Calvin 19-16 in the opening half, forcing the Knights into six turnovers.
Out of the break, Busscher scored on a pass from senior Michelle Holwerda and junior Karissa Reed scored to cut the Alma lead to 11-8.
Again, the Scots cut the Knights rally short, scoring two goals to expand their lead back to five at 13-8.
Over the next eight minutes, a 5-2 run by Calvin, including three goals from Grabowski, put the Knights within striking distance at 15-13 with 7:38 remaining in regulation.
Calvin got just one goal over the remaining time, however, as did Alma, and the Scots beat the Knights 16-14 in a hard-fought matchup.
Calvin outshot Alma 33-29 for the contest while also holding a 36-22 advantage in ground balls.
Grabowski paced the Knights with five goals while Reed added four. Holwerda had three assists on the afternoon.
For the Scots, Gallihugh had eight goals and an assist while Ashton Street scored three goals. Alma keeper Stephanie Herman made seven key saves in net.
"At halftime we said we had a hole to dig ourselves out of and we had to win the half because we lost the first half. For the most part we were able to do that, and I'm happy with the way we played in the second half," said head coach Blake Boehm. "We have to be better at shot placement and winning the middle of the field - this game was very much decided by who had possession, and for a good part of the end of the first half, they were winning possessions and we were not."
With the loss, the Knights fall to 8-5 and 5-2 in the MIAA, while Alma improves to 11-5 and 6-1 in conference play.
Calvin now looks forward to Saturday when it will travel to Kalamazoo to face the Hornets at 1 p.m.
With a win, the Knights will be the third seed in the MIAA Tournament, while a loss could drop Calvin to the fourth seed.
MEN'S TENNIS
Spring Arbor 8, Calvin 1
The Calvin men's tennis team closed out its season with an 8-1 non-conference loss at Spring Arbor University Thursday afternoon. The Knights finish the year at 5-13 overall.
Calvin's lone point came from senior John Strikwerda (Holland/Holland Christian HS) who won 6-1, 6-2 at number-four singles.
Strikwerda closed out his senior season with an overall singles record of 12-7.
Received on Thu Apr 24 23:29:59 2014
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