CKSR (Calvin Knight Saturday Sports Report for April 1, 2017)

CALVIN KNIGHT SATURDAY SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 1, 2017

WOMEN'S GOLF

ANGOLA, Ind. - The Calvin women's golf team finished the Trine Spring Classic in seventh place. The Knights shot a combined round of 383 for the second-straight day to finish at 766 strokes. Hope finished in first place with 659 strokes.
Nicole VanderYacht recorded the lowest round of the day at 89 strokes to finish in 17th place.
Jessica Zylstra finished tied for 21st place with a round of 94.
Grace Bolt dropped two strokes from Friday to shoot a round of 98 on Saturday and finish tied for 30th.
Katy Hamilton shot a round of 102 on Saturday to stand in 34th place.
Katherine Ryan improved six strokes on Saturday to finish at 103 in 36th place.

BASEBALL
Hope 11, Calvin 2
Hope 5, Calvin 3

HOLLAND, Mich. - Calvin dropped both ends of a Saturday doubleheader at rival Hope Saturday afternoon, falling 11-2 and 5-3. The twinbill came one day after Calvin had taken a pair of games from the Flying Dutchmen in Grand Rapids.

Saturday's doubleheader concluded the four-game weekend series.
Hope (12-6 overall, 5-3 MIAA) pounded out 15 hits in the game one win over Calvin (8-10 overall, 4-4 MIAA) Saturday.

Calvin scored two runs in the top of the first inning on a two-run RBI double to right by junior Nate DeZwaan (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian HS). Hope answered with three runs in the third, five in the fourth, two in the fifth and one more in the sixth to complete the win.

Calvin was limited to six hits by Hope Eric Plaehn (4-0) who struck out seven and walked just two.

Freshman Mike Kool (Sturgis, Mich./Centreville HS) took the loss for Calvin to dip to 2-1 on the season.

In game two, Calvin outhit Hope 11-9 but stranded 10 base runners and grounded into three double plays. The final double play came in the top of the ninth with the Knights threatening with two runners aboard and only one out.

Hope scored a run in the first but Calvin tied the game with a solo home run to right by senior Colton Wolfe (Eaton Rapids, Mich./Eaton Rapids HS) in the top of the fourth. The home run was fifth of the season for Wolfe and the 24th of his collegiate career.

Hope's Tanner Gilmore launched a two-run home to right in the bottom of the fourth inning however, giving the Flying Dutchmen a 3-1 lead. Hope added another run in the fifth with Calvin scoring an unearned run in the sixth.

Kool later drove in sophomore Beau Redfield (Cedar Springs, Mich./Northpointe Christian HS) with an infield single in the eight to bring the Knights within a run at 4-3 but Hope came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the eighth and held on from there for the win.

Junior Johnny Salgado (Whittier, Ca./Whittier HS) had three of Calvin's 11 hits while Wolfe had two.

Sophomore Jonathan Keane (Broofield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS) went seven strong innings but took the hard-luck loss to fall to 0-3 on the year. Keane struck out eight batters and walked none.

Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it hosts Illinois Tech at 4 p.m. in a non-conference game.

SOFTBALL
Trine 5, Calvin 0
Trine 3, Calvin 2

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin softball team fell to the No. 4 ranked Thunder of Trine on Saturday afternoon. The Knights fell in game one, 5-0. Trine edged Calvin in game two, 3-2. Calvin falls to 11-7 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA. Trine is now 21-1 in 2017 and 2-0 in MIAA Play.
"I thought Anna and Paige both pitched very well and our defense stood firm today," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "They made some key plays with runners on base. Offensively we struggled to string hits together. In game one, I felt we were slow to adjust at the plate. In game two, we had multiple opportunities to move runners but we just did not execute. In these tight games our hitters really need to focus on productive at bats and I think that mindset got away from us at times."
The Knights and Thunder found themselves in a pitchers duel in game one. Sophomore Anna Gernant (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) recorded 15 strikeouts in game one. Saturday marked the sixth time this season that Gernant has had 10 or more strikeouts.
Trine got on the scoreboard in the second inning with a two-run homerun. A single in the fourth inning gave Trine a 3-0 lead and a double in the sixth inning scored two runs.
Danielle Ray improved to 9-0 on the year for Trine with 11 strikeouts.
Trine scored all three of its runs in game two in the third inning.
The Knights threatened in the first four innings, but left 10 runners on base in the first five innings.
Calvin was able to get two runs across home plate in the sixth inning. Junior Jessica Brasser (Rockford, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) singled to right field to score sophomore Maddie DeGroot (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) from second base. Anna Gernant was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score sophomore Rachel Borden (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg).
Senior Paige Groom (Potterville, Mich./Potterville) had a solid outing in the circle. Groom finished with three earned runs and one strikeout.
The Knights return to MIAA action on Tuesday when they travel to Adrian.

MEN'S LACROSSE
Calvin 23, North Central University 0

By Gina de Haan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's lacrosse team claimed its fourth win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a decisive 23-0 victory over North Central University.

The Knights came out strong, scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the game. Joel Schaefer (Clarksville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) assisted Chris Griffin (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) for the first goal 1:36 in. Schaefer scored 2:59 later, assisted by Austin Bontreger (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian).

With 8:17 left in the first quarter, Schaefer scored again, this time assisted by Griffin Sparling (Novi, Mich./Novi). The Knights scored a trio of goals in the final two minutes of the quarter, courtesy of Max Foster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), Michael Winkler (La Quinta, Calif./Palm Desert) and Andrew Gortsema (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), to hold a 6-0 advantage.

Calvin's offense continued to roll in the second quarter, scoring eight goals. Bontreger kicked off the scoring frenzy and Foster added back-to-back goals. A minute later, Noah Nedd (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) netted his first goal of the afternoon. With just under five minutes remaining, Sparling added a pair of goals, and Griffin followed with two consecutive goals to give the Knights a 14-0 halftime advantage.

Neither team scored for the first 6:16 of the third quarter until Griffin fed Winkler for another Calvin goal. Gortsema, Foster and Sparling also contributed to the third quarter scoring effort.

In the final quarter, Sparling and Schaefer posted two goals apiece, while Foster chipped in one.

Foster and Sparling led the Knights with five goals apiece, while Schaefer finished with four.

Calvin goalkeeper Mitchell Caldwell (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) recorded four saves in his first shutout victory of the season.

The Knights outshot the Rams 48-10 on the afternoon and held a 54-24 ground balls advantage. Calvin was 17-20 on clear attempts while North Central was 12-23.

The Knights are back in action next Saturday when they travel to Olivet. Game time is set for 12 p.m.

MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 7, Alma 2

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's tennis team opened its MIAA campaign with a 7-2 victory over Alma College Saturday afternoon at the Strikwerda Tennis Courts.

The Knights improve to 10-3 overall with the victory.

Calvin gained early momentum by taking all three doubles points. The Knights then sealed the win with victories at No. 2 and No. 6 singles and added victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.

At No. 1 doubles, junior Matt Winkle (St. Joseph, Mich./St. Joseph HS) and senior Taylor Asfour (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) combined for an 8-3 win. Freshman Rodrigo Castellanos Vaca Guzman (Tarija, Bolivia/Felipe Palazon) and junior David Brown (Lake Zurich, Il./Lake Zurich HS) were 8-2 winners at No. 2 doubles. Senior Anthony Vroon (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian HS) and sophomore Jason Wolters (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) won 8-2 at No. 3 doubles.

VanWinkle was a 6-1, 7-5 winner at No. 2 singles and Wolters a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 6 singles, clinching the match.

Castellanos Vaca Guzman then picked up his first-ever MIAA singles victory, winning 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Asfour followed with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles.

"It was a good way to open our MIAA season," said Calvin men's tennis coach John Ross who is now 179-97 at Calvin in dual match play including 54-25 against MIAA opponents. "We had great doubles play that got our team off to a fast start. I was very pleased with the way we competed. It was also special to see Rodrigo (Castellanos Vaca Guzman) pick up his first MIAA victory as a freshman and doing it at No. 1 singles."

Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it travels to Hope for a 4 p.m. match.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Hope 9, Calvin 0

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin women's tennis team dropped its MIAA opener, falling 9-0 at rival Hope Saturday afternoon.

Ranked 23rd nationally, Hope (9-2 overall) swept the three doubles points, losing only three games in doubles play.

In singles action, Hope kept up the pressure on the Knights (5-6), sweeping all six singles points in straight-sets fashion.

Calvin returns to action on Monday when it hosts Spring Arbor University in a non-conference match at 4 p.m.
Received on Sat Apr 1 22:44:36 2017