CKSR (Softball Sweeps Hope to Remain in MIAA Tournament Hunt / Men's Tennis Tops Trine - Clinches MIAA Tournament Spot)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 27, 2016

Softball Sweeps Hope to Remain in MIAA Tournament Hunt;
Men's Tennis Tops Trine - Clinches MIAA Tournament Spot

SOFTBALL
Calvin 4, Hope 3
Calvin 9, Hope 7 (9 innings)

KENTWOOD, Mich. - With their backs against the wall, the Calvin College Knights pushed back to claim a doubleheader sweep over rival Hope Wednesday afternoon at the Gainey Athletic Complex.

Calvin (21-13 overall, 7-7 MIAA) took the opener 4-3 and the nightcap 9-7 in nine innings. Calvin remains alive in a hunt for an MIAA Tournament spot but must sweep a doubleheader at Olivet on Saturday.

Hope (20-16 overall, 9-5 MIAA) could have clinched an MIAA Tournament spot with a win in either game Saturday but could not find a way to finish off the Knights.

In game one, Hope took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. Senior Autumn Anderson produced the first Hope run by reaching base on an error, stealing second, moving to third on a bunt and scoring on a sacrifice fly to right by Sierra Mutschler. In the top of the sixth, freshman Shay Pinhey and Mutschler had back-to-back one-out singles. Junior Sammi Adams then laced a triple down the left-field line that brought home two runs, giving Hope a 3-0 lead.

Calvin responded in a big way. Senior Lydia Gildea (Gobles/Gobles HS) led off the bottom of the sixth with a towering solo home run to right to bring the Knights within two. The home run was the seventh of the season for Gildea. Freshman Anna Gernant (West Des Moines, Ia./Valley HS) was then hit by a pitch and sophomore Kaley Frank (Edwardsburg/Edwardsburg HS) followed with a single. With two outs, senior Caitlin Bell (Oak Park, Il./Oak Park River Forest HS) roped a triple into the right-center field gap to tie the game 3-3. Freshman Maddie DeGroot (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) then pounded a single through the middle to plate Bell and the Knights had a 4-3 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Gernant retired the side on a strikeout and back-to-back ground outs to herself in the pitcher's circle to cement the win. Gernant struck out seven while limiting Hope to four hits in posting her 12th complete-game of the season. Sydney Jones (6-9) took the loss for Hope.

Game two featured a plethora of fielding errors as Calvin committed four and Hope five.

Calvin took advantage early, scoring four runs in the top of the second, using three hits and two errors to take a 4-0 lead. Freshman Rachel Borden (Edwardsburg/Edwardsburg HS) drove in one run while senior Ashley Riemersma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) drove in two more on an RBI triple to right. Riemersma later scored on Hope's second error of the inning.

Hope charged right back in the bottom of the second with three runs on the strength of four hits. Sophomore Katie Singer had an RBI single in the Flying Dutch uprising while junior Katrina Ellis and freshman Noelle Jackson had run-scoring doubles in the inning to chase Calvin starter Paige Groom (Potterville/Potterville HS). Groom was relieved by sophomore Makela Chapman (Lowell/Lowell HS).

Hope took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third as sophomore Haley Reitsma doubled in a pair of runs with a line drive to the left-centerfield gap.

In the fourth, Gernant came on in relief and proceeded to pitch the next six innings.

Calvin was able to give Gernant a 7-5 lead with three runs in the fifth as Frank delivered a two-run RBI double and DeGroot brought Frank home with a run-scoring single.

Hope pecked away with a run in the fifth as Pinhey reached on an error and later scored on another Calvin error.

The Flying Dutch threatened to scored in the sixth, placing runners at second and third with one out but Pinhey was thrown out at the plate by Riemersma on a ground ball to third. Moments later, Riemersma prevented more damage by snagging a deflected pop-up with two outs and a pair of runners aboard.

In the top of the seventh, Hope tied the game 7-7 as senior Jenna Maury led off with a single and scored on a double by Adams. Adams then moved to third on an error and with no outs, the Flying Dutch had the winning run standing just a few feet away from home plate. Gernant dug down and got back-to-back outs on infield pop-ups and then retired the threat with a grounder to DeGroot at second base.

In the bottom of the eighth, Hope loaded the bases with one out but Gernant was able to get out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts. In the ninth, Calvin was able to break through for a pair of runs as DeGroot drove in pinch-runner Kimiko Hinatsu (Romeo/Romoe HS) with a sacrifice fly to left. Riemersma later bounced a single over third to plate Bell to give the Knights a 9-7 advantage.
Hope had one hit in the bottom of the ninth but did not score as Calvin shortstop Jessica Brasser snagged a line drive and threw a pair of runners out at first to seal the win.

Gernant (12-7) picked up the win in relief, striking out four and walking three. Katie Singer (3-3) took the loss for Hope.

Borden and Frank had three hits apiece for Calvin the win while sophomore Casey Lawler (Novi/Novi HS), Gernant, DeGroot and Riemersma each had two hits.

"Our team showed great heart and resiliency today," said Calvin softball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Anna Gernant gave a 'Ruthian' type performance. To throw 13 innings for us today when we had to have it was remarkable. We came up with big plays on offensive and defense as well when we needed to. It was just a great team performance and I could not be more prouder of this group than I am right now."

Calvin will travel to Cleary College for a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday and journey to Olivet on Saturday.

NOTES: ....Gildea continued to build her Calvin single-season RBI total, boosting it to 46 with her game one home run....Gildea now has seven home runs on the season which ranks fourth on the Calvin single-season list....she has 15 career home runs which ranks second on the Calvin career list...she is also now sixth on the Calvin career list for hits (138), second in doubles (34) and second in runs batted in (135)....Gernant now has 12 pitching victories on the season which is tied for on the Calvin single-season list....At 21-13, Calvin has now hit the 20-win plateau for the second time in three years.

MIAA SOFTBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 4-27-16 GAMES

Alma 12-2
Trine 12-2
Hope 9-5
Saint Mary's 9-5
Calvin 7-7
Kalamazoo 6-8
Adrian 4-8
Olivet 3-9
Albion 0-16

MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Trine 1

ANGOLA, Ind. - The Calvin men's tennis team clinched the final spot in the MIAA Tournament with an 8-1 victory at Trine. The win improves Calvin to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in the MIAA.
"I am really happy with how we played today," said Calvin head coach John Ross. "We knew how important today was and the guys really stepped up today and earlier this week against Alma."
The Knights started the day taking two of the three doubles points. Senior Matt Buesing (Hoffman Estates, IL/Fremdn HS) and sophomore David Brown (Lake Zurich, Il./Lake Zurich HS) won at No. 2 doubles, 8-6. The freshman duo of Jason Wolters (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and Andrew Airgood (Sturgis/Sturgis HS) topped Trine at No. 3 doubles, 8-2.
Matt Buesing made quick work of Judson Quinn at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2.
David Brown edged Victor Flynn at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3.
Sophomore Matt VanWinkle (St. Joseph/St. Joseph HS) downed Garrett Baysinger at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-1.
At No. 4 singles, junior Taylor Asfour (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) sank Blake Trusty, 6-0, 6-1.
Sophomore Christopher Dausman (Coopersville/Coopersville HS) dropped Colin Couch at No. 5 singles, 6-4, 6-4.
Junior Anthony Vroon (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) was victorious at No. 6 singles over Zach Richardson, 6-2, 6-2.
The Knights return to action next week when they face the No. 1 seed Kalamazoo Hornets.

MIAA MEN'S TENNIS STANDINGS THROUGH 4-27-16

Kalamazoo 7-0
Hope 6-1
Adrian 5-2
Calvin 4-3
Alma 2-4
Albion 2-5
Trine 1-5
Olivet 0-7
Received on Thu Apr 28 00:45:18 2016