CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for March 20, 2015)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 20, 2015

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

For the first time in DIII women's basketball history, the National Championship game will match-up a pair of undefeated teams. With a 70-58 win over Montclair State, 32-0 George Fox University advances to the final to face 32-0 Thomas More College, who defeated Tufts University 62-52 earlier in the evening.

To read more, visit the Calvin website at: http://calvinknights.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/releases/20150320rit0nt

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

SHENADOAH, TX - For the third time in his collegiate career, Calvin College junior Johnson Cochran is an NCAA III All-American. Cochran placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke Friday night at the NCAA III Championships with a time of 55.11. Cochran was also an NCAA III All-American in the event last year, placing third.

Cochran’s seventh place finish was good for 12 points in the team standings. The Knights also scored two points Thursday night with a 16th place finish in the 400 medley relay, leaving Calvin tied for 31st heading into the final day competition. Cochran will compete in the 200 breaststroke prelims on Saturday.

Sophomore Brett Stoughton did not qualify for the evening finals but established a new school record in the 200 butterfly prelims, clocking in with a time of 1:52.40. His time eclipses his own record time of 1:52.51 last year.

Also competing for the men but not advancing to the evening finals was freshman Skyler Fish who clocked a time of 51.19 in the 100 backstroke.

Also scheduled to compete for the Calvin men is junior Caleb Meindertsma in the 1,650 freestyle.

On the women’s side, senior Erika Waugh had a strong time of 58.71 in the 100 backstroke but did not advance to the evening finals. Waugh is scheduled to compete in the 200 backstroke prelims Saturday morning.

In addition, freshman Sarah Bradley competed on the one-meter diving board, placing 22nd with a score of 346.20 points.

BASEBALL
Calvin Baseball Drops Conference-Opening Twinbill to Kalamazoo
by John Leerar

The Calvin Knights baseball team returned from a spring break trip to Florida to open up conference play. Their opponent was the Hornets of Kalamazoo College. Not only were the Knights looking for their first conference win of the season, they were looking for the first conference win of head coach John Rypel’s Calvin coaching career.

The first win would have to wait, however, as Calvin dropped both ends of the twinbill, 13-10 and 7-6.
In the opener, the Knights got off to a poor start. By the middle of the fifth inning, Calvin was already down 8-0, with only a single from sophomore Colt Wolfe (Eaton Rapids/Eaton Rapids HS) for offense.
In the bottom of the fifth the Calvin’s offense got going. They scored two runs in the inning, being led by an RBI Single by senior Ben Wohl (Canton/Plymouth HS).

The Hornets came back with two runs in the top of the sixth before the Knights thundered back with three in the bottom of the inning. Senior Peter Cupery (Holland/Holland Christian HS) came up big for the Knights, knocking in two with a double to the right-center gap.

Kalamazoo scored three more in the top of the seventh, bringing their lead to 13-5 going into the bottom of the inning.

The Knights were not done yet though. Showing tremendous tenacity, they scored five runs on five singles and a walk, and had the winning run up at the plate with the bases loaded before a flyout to center ended game one.

Senior Austin Juza (St. Joseph/Lake Michigan Catholic HS) took the loss for the Knights, giving up 6 earned runs in 3 ⅓ innings while striking out six.

First-year coach John Rypel was happy with his team’s resilience. “The hitters really did a good job of not giving up. As a team, we did a good job as well of staying in the game. We’re never out of a ballgame with the way we can swing it.”

The second game started off well for Calvin. In the bottom of the second, junior Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS) scored Wohl on an RBI groundout. And in the third, the Knights added three more runs with RBI doubles by Wolfe and sophomore Matt Kotva (Elkhart, IN/Concord).

After two Kalamazoo runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, Wolfe hit a monster 400-foot solo home run to center, bringing Calvin’s lead to 5-3.

In the top of the sixth, however, the Hornets scored four runs on a home run and four walks to take the lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
The Knights did not score in the sixth but again threatened Kalamazoo’s lead in the seventh. Calvin plated one and brought the tying run to third and the winning run to first before a lineout by VanderWall ended the rally for the Knights.

With the losses, Calvin drops to 3-7 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA.

The Knights travel to Kalamazoo on Saturday to take on the Hornets in a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.

SOFTBALL

By Mark DeHaan

The Knights faced Indiana Tech for an afternoon twinbill on Thursday. Calvin was looking to get back into the win column against the Warriors, but a pair of hard-fought games ended in favor of Indiana Tech as the Knights fell 7-1 and 5-4.
In the first game, the Warriors had a big offensive frame in the top of the second, jumping out to a 5-0 lead.
Two more runs by Indiana Tech in the fourth inning stretched its lead over Calvin to 7-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, senior Kelsey Pollock<http://calvinknights.com/sports/sball/2014-15/bios/pollock_kelsey_0w1w> hit a solo home run to put the Knights on the board.
The Warriors then quieted the Calvin bats to claim a 7-1 win.
Pollock finished 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. Junior Alyssa Bryan<http://calvinknights.com/sports/sball/2014-15/bios/bryan_alyssa_5mc2> was 2-for-3 at the plate.
In game two, Calvin opened the ball game with three runs in the top of the first inning.
Sophomore Maddie Teune<http://calvinknights.com/sports/sball/2014-15/bios/teune_maddie_9ueq> put a ball in play that was misplayed by the opposing first baseman, allowing Pollock to score. Another error by the Warriors, this time on a ball hit by freshman Madi Jongekrijg<http://calvinknights.com/sports/sball/2014-15/bios/jongekrijg_madi_z8nk>, plated two more runs for the Knights.
In the fifth inning, Indiana Tech scored two runs to cut its deficit to 3-2.
The Warriors then plated another in the sixth to tie the game at 3-3.
In the top of the seventh, Calvin pulled ahead 4-3 as a single from senior Christie VanderMeer<http://calvinknights.com/sports/sball/2014-15/bios/vandermeer_christie_7jzm> brought in a run.
Indiana Tech refused to go away, however, and the Warriors started the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run to tie the game. Indiana Tech then worked their way into a bases-loaded situation, and after a walk from the Calvin pitcher, earned a walk-off 5-4 win over the Knights.
VanderMeer was 3-for-3 with one RBI in game two to pace the Calvin offense. Teune finished 1-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI.
In the circle, freshman Madi Cornish started the game and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three.
"We struggled the first game defensively, made a couple of errors that allowed them to get ahead of us, and we didn't hit the ball very well," said head coach Tim Syrek. "Second game, came out and scored three runs in the first, but again, just made some mistakes defensively which allowed them to take the game from us."
On Friday, Calvin dropped games to Amherst and Greenville College to slip to 3-7 on the year.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Pacific 15, Calvin 9

Calvin dropped a 15-9 decision to Pacific University Thursday evening as the Knights continued their west coast swing.

Calvin trailed 5-3 at halftime but then fell behind 11-5 early in the second half. Calvin rallied to within four at 12-8 but Pacific went on a 3-1 scoring run to close out the game.

Senior Karissa Reed and sophomore Emily Cefaratti had three goals apiece while sophomore Amanda Davio had two goals and junior Carolyn Forbes two goals. Forbes and Davio were each credited with an assist.

Junior goalkeeper Corry Remy had five saves.

Calvin will close out its spring trip to the west coast on Saturday with a game against Linfield College.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS

The Calvin men’s and women’s tennis teams closed out their spring trips on Friday in Florida. The Calvin men defeated Lawrence 7-2 while the Calvin women fell to Grinnell 6-3. A further recap will be sent out later Saturday.



Received on Sat Mar 21 01:18:49 2015