CKSR (Claire Spoelhof Featured as Part of NCAA D3 Week / Softball Sweeps Albion / Baseball Falls at Hope / Men's Tennis Tops Olivet)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 5, 2016

Claire Spoelhof Featured as Part of NCAA D3 Week;
Softball Sweeps Albion;
Baseball Falls at Hope;
Men's Tennis Tops Olivet

WOMEN'S TENNIS

This week the NCAA is once again celebrating Division III Week - highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of its Division III student-athletes. This week, the Calvin Sports Information Office is featuring a story on one of its student-athletes each day of Division III Week. Tuesday's feature is one junior Claire Spoelhof of the Calvin women's tennis team. A native of Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High School, Spoelhof is a nursing major at Calvin and is in her second year as a team captain for the Knights. To read more, visit the Calvin website at: http://calvinknights.com/sports/wten/2015-16/releases/20160405dkn7di

SOFTBALL
Calvin 3, Albion 1
Calvin 5, Albion 4

KENTWOOD, Mich. - he Calvin softball team opened the MIAA season sweeping the Albion Britons on Tuesday. Calvin improved to 12-6 on the year and 2-0 in the MIAA with a 3-1 victory in game one and a 5-4 victory in game two. The Britons fall to 6-16 and 0-6 in MIAA play.
"I am happy that we ended the day with two wins," said Calvin head coach Tim Syrek. "Albion is a really improved team and they played well today. There are some things that we need to sharpen up on, but I think that we played well for not playing in a week."
The Knights struck early in game one with two runs in the first inning of game one. Senior Ashley Riemersma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) doubled to right-center field, scoring sophomore Jessica Brasser and freshman Rachel Borden (Edwardsburg/Edwardsburg HS).
Calvin and Albion would go four scoreless innings before the Britons cut the Calvin lead in half in the top of the sixth inning off of a leadoff triple.
Sophomore Kaley Frank would extend the lead back to two in the bottom of the sixth inning with a double to left field, scoring Jessica Brasser (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) from second base.
Freshman Anna Gernant (West Des Moines, Ia./Valley HS) was once again in control in the circle on Tuesday. Gernant tallied six strikeouts on Tuesday, including three in the first inning. She improved to 6-1 on the year in the victory.
Rachel Borden and Ashley Riemersma both finished with a game-high three hits. Riemersma had two RBI in game one.
"I was very happy to get some hits and help my team in our first conference game," said Riemersma. "It felt good to get the bat on the ball and capitalize on moving runners around the bases. The whole team played well and everyone did their jobs. Overall, I am happy with the results and I am looking forward to coming back tomorrow and working as a team against Alma."
Game two saw the Knights strike first again, this time in the third inning.
Senior Lydia Gildea (Gobles/Gobles HS) scored Jessica Brasser (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Rachel Borden on a double to right field.
"I was glad that I was able to contribute today," said Gildea. "Those were two quality team wins and I was glad that I was able to do my part."
Calvin struck again in the fourth inning when junior Caitlin Bell hit one to centerfield to score freshman Kristen Newman.
The Knights would luck out in the fifth inning when Lydia Gildea hit a double into right field when the ball dropped between two Albion defenders with two outs, scoring Jessica Brasser from second base.
In the sixth inning, Caitlin Bell (Oak Park, Il./Oak Park River Forest HS) would score what would be the game-winning run with a double to center field, sending Anna Gernant home from third base.
Albion would not go away quietly and would make things interesting, scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Paige Groom would get out of the inning with the tying run on second base and the winning run on first base with a fly-ball out to Rachel Borden.
Paige Groom earned the victory in game two with two strikeouts in seven innings.
Jessica Brasser, Lydia Gildea, Anna Gernant and Caitlin Bell all finished the second game with a single and a double. Lydia Gildea led all batters with three RBI.
The Knights return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Alma to face the No. 15 Scots.

MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-5-16 GAMES

Alma 4-0
Calvin 2-0
Kalamazoo 2-0
Trine 3-1
Adrian 1-2
Hope 1-3
Olivet 0-0
Saint Mary's 0-1
Albion 0-6

BASEBALL
Hope 12, Calvin 6

HOLLAND, Mich. - A seven-run outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled Hope to a 12-6 victory over Calvin Wednesday afternoon at Boeve Stadium. The victory allowed Hope to gain a split of the four-game conference series with the Knights which began last Friday.

Calvin held a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth but the Flying Dutchmen erupted for seven runs on the strength of six hits and two walks. Hope senior Ryan Konkle tied the 6-6 on a one-out solo home run. Konkle was the first of seven straight Hope batters to reach base safely in the eighth.

Calvin (7-12 overall, 3-5 MIAA) then went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth as the Flying Dutchmen sealed the win.

Calvin took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by sophomore Ryan Stewart (Detroit/Parkway Christian HS). The home run was the second of the season for Stewart.

Hope came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at three and then scored two more in sixth to take a 5-3 advantage. In the top of the seventh, Calvin scored three runs to take a 6-5 lead as junior Matt Kotva (Elkhart, Ind./Concord HS) brought in one run with a sacrifice fly and Stewart delivered a two-out, two-run RBI single.

Stewart had four RBI's on the day while freshman Steven Seager (Plantation, Fl./Plantation HS) was 3-for-4 with two runs scoring, raising his season batting average to .451 in the process.

Senior Jordan VanderWall (Wyoming/South Christian HS) had a pair of doubles to go 2-for-5 while junior Colton Wolfe (Eaton Rapids/Eaton Rapids HS) reached base safely four times as he was walked three times and hit by a pitch once.

Freshman Jonathan Keane (Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS) started and went the first four innings for the Knights before being relieved by senior Kyle Wasserberger (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) in the sixth. Wasserberger (2-3) took the loss with freshman Clay Francisco (Delton/Thornapple-Kellogg HS) also tossing two-thirds of an inning of relief.

Calvin will now prepare to travel to Adrian on Friday for a conference doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

MIAA BASEBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-5-16 GAMES

Alma 7-1
Kalamazoo 6-2
Adrian 6-2
Trine 6-2
Hope 3-5
Calvin 3-5
Olivet 1-7
Albion 0-8

MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 9, Olivet 0

BATTLE CREEK, Mich, - The Calvin men's tennis team improved its season record to 7-2 and improved its conference record to 2-0 with a 9-0 win over Olivet Tuesday afternoon at the Minges Creek Racquet Club.

Calvin rolled to 8-0 wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles as freshman Andrew Airgood (Sturgis/Sturgis HS) and Jason Wolters (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) won at No. 1 doubles and junior Jared Doezema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and junior Gene Hill (Montville, NJ/Montville HS) won at No. 2 doubles. Sophomore David Brown (Lake Zurich, Il./Lake Zurich HS) and freshman Charlie Fahr (Milwaukee, Wisc./Toas East HS) picked up a default win at No. 3 doubles.

In singles play, senior Matt Buesing (Hoffman Estates, Il./Fremnd HS) was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Max Grabel at No. 1 singles while sophomore Matt VanWinkle (St. Joseph/St. Joseph HS) was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Ben Morris at No. 2 singles.

Junior Taylor Asfour (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles over Jacob Richards. Sophomore Christopher Dausman (Coopersville/Coopersville HS) claimed a 6-0, 6-0 win over Zak Gray at No. 4 singles while junior Anthony Vroon (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Michael Tran at No. 5 singles.

Fahr was also credited with a default victory at No. 6 singles.

"It was a nice conference road win," said Calvin men's tennis coach John Ross. "Matt Buesing in particular had a nice win at No. 1 singles against a good opponent with strong ground strokes.

Calvin returns to action on April 11 when it hosts Concordia University (Mich.) in a non-conference match at 5 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S TENNIS STANDINGS THROUGH 4-5-16 PLAY

Calvin 2-0
Adrian 1-0
Kalamazoo 1-0
Hope 1-0
Trine 1-1
Alma 0-1
Albion 0-1
Olivet 0-3
Received on Wed Apr 6 00:20:11 2016