CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 15, 2016
Baseball Sweeps Twinbill From Utica;
Softball Breaks Out Bats in Wins Over Fitchburg State and Westfield State;
Women's Tennis Downs Dubuque;
Women's Basketball Players Receive D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region Honors
BASEBALL
Calvin 9, Utica 1
Calvin 8, Utica 2
AUBURNDALE, Fl. - The Calvin baseball team picked up its first two victories of the young season, sweeping both ends of a doubleheader from Utica College on Monday.
Calvin opened the twinbill with a 9-1 victory and came back with an 8-2 triumph in game two. The Knights are now 2-4 on the season.
In game one, freshman Jimmy Dirksen (Portage/Kalamazoo Christian HS) got the start and the win, striking out three and walking two while allowing only three hits. Senior Kyle Wasserberg (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) and sophomore Schuyler Van Tol (Whitinsville, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) came on in relief to help preserve the win.
Calvin scored three runs in the third, three in the fifth and three in the sixth. Sophomore Nick Steiginga went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and three runs scored. Freshman Steven Seager went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in including a two-run homer. Freshman Jonathan Keane (Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS) also had a two-run RBI single.
In game two, Calvin collected 12 hits while Keane went five innings to collect his first collegiate victory on the mound. Keane (1-0) struck out seven and walked none. Sophomore Ryan Stewart (Detroit/Parkway Christian HS) tossed a pair of shutout innings of relief to close out the win.
Junior Colton Wolfe (Eaton Rapids/Eaton Rapids HS) nearly hit for the cycle by going 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, triple and home run to go with five runs batted in. The homer was his second of the spring. Seager also had three hits while senior Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS), junior Matt Kotva (Elkhart, Ind./Concord HS) and freshman Ryan Lang (Bedford, NH/Bedford HS) all had two hits apiece.
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it takes on Stockton College (NJ) in a game slated to start at 4:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Calvin 8, Fitchburg State 0
Calvin 12, Westfield State 7
CLERMONT, Fla. - The Calvin bats were blazing in the Florida sun on Monday with the Knights finishing with a combined 27 hits on the day. Calvin started the day defeating Fitchburg State, 8-0 in six innings and capped the day downing Westfield State, 12-7. The pair of wins improves Calvin to 2-2 on the year.
"It feels good to win these two games today," said head coach Tim Syrek. "After dropping two close games on Saturday, we improved a lot in many areas."
The Knights started the day with an 8-0 victory over Fitchburg State. Calvin had 11 hits on Monday morning, compared to one by Fitchburg State.
With the bases loaded, the Falcons' Kaylee Sylvestre walked in senior Ashley Riemersma to give the Knights a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
The Knights broke the game open in the fourth inning with four runs. Freshman Maddie DeGroot sent home sophomore Kimiko Hinatsu and Ashley Riemersma. During the next at bat, freshman Rachel Borden was able to get DeGroot across home plate. Sophomore Jessica Brasser would double to left-center to score Brasser.
The sixth inning saw the Knights force the mercy rule with three more runs. Brasser safely crossed Maddie DeGroot across home with an infield single. Rachel Borden would score on an error and Jessica Brasser scored on a wild pitch.
The Falcons were not able to get anything going with freshman Anna Gernant in the circle. Gernant held Fitchburg State to only one hit on Monday morning. She tallied 10 strikeouts in the victory.
Ashley Riemersma led all hitters with three hits against the Falcons.
The Knights continued the hitting success against the Owls of Westfield State with 16 hits in the 12-7 victory. Maroon and Gold would score at least one run in the first five innings. Calvin also capitalized on six Westfield State errors on Monday.
Jessica Brasser started the scoring spree in the first inning with a shot to right center, sending in Rachel Borden and Maddie DeGroot.
Freshman Kristen Newman was the first to cross home plate in the second inning, off of a fielder's choice from Rachel Borden. Jessica Brasser scored Kimiko Hinatsu and senior Lydia Gildea singled in junior Caitlin Bell.
In the third inning, Maddie DeGroot doubled in Bell and Hinatsu. She also belted her first homerun at Calvin in the bottom of the fifth inning. DeGroot finished with a game-high three RBI.
The fourth inning saw sophomore Kaley Frank score Brasser and freshman Abby Colon double in Newman and Frank.
Lydia Gildea sent in Calvin's final run in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly to right field. Advancing Rachel Borden across the plate.
Junior Paige Groom and sophomore Makela Chapman kept the Owls in-check on Monday and made sure that Westfield State never took control of the lead. The Calvin duo recorded five strikeouts combined.
Jessica Brasser and Kristen Newman both finished with three hits. Five Knights tallied two runs in the victory.
"From here on out we just need to be consistent," said Syrek. "We have talent and we are excited to continually get better."
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when the Knights face Ripon and Macalester in Florida.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, U. of Dubuque 1
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Calvin women's tennis team defeated Dubuque in convincing fashion on Monday morning, 8-1. The victory improves the Knights to 3-2 in 2016.
"It was a nice win to start the week," said head coach Kevin Van Haitsma. "Our depth really showed today. Our No. 1 doubles team made some smart adjustments after being down 5-1 to come back and win in a tiebreaker. It was nice seeing them adjust strategies mid match and come back and win. We are hoping to keep the momentum going into our doubleheader tomorrow."
The Knights swept the doubles competition on Monday to take an early 3-0 lead. At No. 1 doubles the junior duo of Ellie Benzel and Claire Spoelhof rallied from down 1-5 to win 9-8 (8-6). The sophomore team Jessica Bouma and Micaela Seazzu were victorious at No. 2 doubles, downing Dubuque, 8-1. Junior Liz Turner and sophomore Lark Foote cruised at No. 3 doubles, winning, 8-1.
At No. 2 singles, Claire Spoelhof walked away the victor over Marissa Joers, 6-2, 6-2.
Jessica Bouma swept Naomi Bokela at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0.
Miceala Seazzu earned the victory over Megan Rannet at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-2.
Freshman Alyssa Bowman notched the win at No. 5 singles against Mariah Scott, 6-1, 6-1.
At No. 6 singles, sophomore Kari Kroeze made quick work of Taylor Fortmann, 6-0, 6-1.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Two members of the Calvin women's basketball team have received D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region honors. Junior forward Anna Timmer has been named to the D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region second team while sophomore forward Bre Luurtsema has been named to the third team.
Both individuals are receiving all-region accolades for the first time.
A native of Caledonia and a graduate of Grand Rapids South Christian High School, Timmer averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds a game while connecting on 57.4 percent of her field goal attempts. She also averaged 2.2 steals and 1.6 assists-per-game while connecting on 33.3 percent of her three-point field goal attempts.
A first team All-MIAA selection this year, Timmer notched seven double-doubles this year. In a 76-64 win over Olivet in February, she tossed in a career-high 26 points. She was a two-time MIAA Player of the Week and finished second in the MIAA scoring race.
Luurtsema is from Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High School. She averaged 10.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game this season while connecting on 55.1 percent of her field goal attempts. She also averaged 2.1 steals and 2.0 assists per game.
Also a first team All-MIAA selection this winter, Luurtsema collected seven double-doubles this season. In an 81-52 win over Trine in January, she scored a career-high 24 points. In a 79-77 overtime win at Olivet on January 9, she connected on a pair of game-winning free throws with less than a second remaining on the clock. For her efforts, she was later named MIAA Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Calvin finished the year with an overall record of 20-6 as the Knights hit the 20-win plateau for the 10th time in the last 13 years. The Knights finished second in the MIAA regular season standings with a 14-2 conference record.
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