CALVIN KNIGHT WEEKEND SPORTS WRAP FOR MARCH 4, 2018 (Part One)
MEN'S DIVING
CHICAGO, Il. - For the third consecutive year, Calvin College senior Michael Moentmann has qualified for the NCAA III Championships.
Moentmann (Solon, Oh./Solon HS) snapped up one of the eight qualifying spots at the NCAA III Diving Regional Saturday at the University of Chicago.
After placing ninth on the one-meter board Friday night, Moentmann came back with a strong fifth place finish on the three-meter board Saturday, posting a score of 441.60 points. Moentmann gained the qualifying berth by finishing 6.5 tenths of a point ahead of the sixth place finisher Saturday evening.
After winning the MIAA three-meter title last Saturday, Moentmann had a steady Saturday in the 11-dive three-meter competition.
His steady work will provide him a berth to the NCAA III Championships scheduled to take place March 21-24 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"I've extremely happy to see Michael qualify for nationals," said Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan. "He needed a strong performance today to qualify and he stayed the course and got the job done. I'm excited to work with him for another three weeks. I think we can fine-tune some things in his routine and compete well at the national meet. It's another great opportunity for him and I know his teammates are excited for him as well."
Moentmann will join seven other swimmers from the Calvin men's swimming and diving program to compete at the NCAA III Championships.
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 9, Lakeland 0
Calvin 5, Lake Forest 4
Calvin closed out a weekend trip with a pair of non-conference victories, defeating Lakeland 9-0 and Lake Forest 5-4.
Calvin (5-1) opened the day with a win over Lakeland Saturday morning in Kohler, Wisconsin. The Knights rolled through doubles play as junior Jose Larrea (Caracas, Venezuela/U.E. Colegio San Jose) and freshman Max Stallings (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) won 8-0. Sophomore Cobe Benzel (San Dimas, Ca./San Dimas HS) and junior Charlie Fahr (Milwaukee, Wisc./Toas East HS) won 8-1 at No. 2 doubles and sophomore Tyrus Tsai (Glenbrook, Il./Glenbrook South HS) and freshman Avery Holt (Aurora, Il./Matea Valley HS) won 8-1 at No. 3 doubles.
Fahr continued the run in singles action, winning 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Holt was a 6-0, 6-1 victor at No. 2 singles.
Tsai won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles and Benzel came up on top 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
Senior David Brown (Lake Zurich, Il./Lake Zurich HS) won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles and junior Jason Wolters (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
The Knights then traveled to Lake Bluff, Illinois, for a Saturday night match against host Lake Forest.
Calvin prevailed 5-4 in dramatic fashion.
Calvin took an early lead, winning two of the three doubles points. Brown and sophomore Rodridgo Castellanos Vaca Guzman (Tarija, Bolivia/Felipe Palazon HS) won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. Larrea and Stallings won 8-3 at No. 3 doubles.
Lake Forest roared back by claiming wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles but the bottom half of the Knight lineup hung tough. Larrea was a 7-5, 6-2 winner at No. 4 singles. Stallings was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 6 singles.
Wolters however provided the clinching victory, winning 2-6, 6-1, 12-10 (tiebreaker) at No. 5 singles to give Calvin the dramatic win.
"It was a good three-day trip," said Calvin men's tennis coach John Ross. "We came up with four victories but more importantly we spent quality time together as a team. That will pay dividends moving forward. I am very pleased with our team this weekend."
Calvin returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Illinois Tech at 5 p.m. inside the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center.
BASEBALL
Calvin 2, Oberlin 0
Oberlin 9, Calvin 8
WESTFIELD, Ind. - Calvin opened its 2018 season with a doubleheader split against Oberlin College Saturday afternoon.
Calvin took the opener 2-0 behind a stellar starting pitching performance from sophomore Trevor VanDuyn (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) and strong relief out of the bullpen from junior Clay Francisco (Delton, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg HS).
VanDuyn tossed no-hit ball through six innings and picked up the win.
Calvin scored its first run in the third as senior Ryan Stewart (Detroit, Mich./Parkway Christian HS) doubled with one out and later scored on an error off a ball driven to centerfield by senior Nate DeZwaan (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS).
In the bottom of the eighth, Calvin added an insurance run as Stewart reached base on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single to center by junior Ryan Pena (Lake Forest, Ca./J. Serra Catholic HS).
Francisco came on in the seventh and tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Oberlin loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth however. Sophomore Justin Paauwe (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) came on to get the final out however to gain the save and preserve the victory.
In game two, Calvin dropped a 9-8 decision after leading 6-0 through seven innings.
Oberlin scored seven runs however in the bottom of the eighth. The Knights regained the lead with a two-run inning in the top of the ninth but Oberlin scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to pick up the win.
Pena was 4-for-5 with three runs scored to lead Calvin at the plate. Junior Jonathan Keane (Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS) got the start on the mound and tossed six shutout innings. Keane was also 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs batted in.
Keane helped his own cause with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give Calvin a 6-0 advantage.
Oberlin struck back with seven hits and seven runs in the bottom of the eighth however.
Sophomore Sam Schellenberg (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) answered the call for the Knights with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to give Calvin an 8-7 lead.
Oberlin used two hits, a hit batter and an error to score two runs and win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Junior Logan Walker (Imlay City, Mich./Lapeer East HS) took the loss for Calvin in relief.
"I thought our starting pitchers were fantastic today," said Calvin head baseball coach John Rypel. "Trevor and Jon really threw the ball well for their first outings. I think we missed an opportunity to close the door in game two but our guys played hard for 18 innings. That's all you can ask."
Calvin returns to action next weekend as it will travel to Franklin (Ind.) for a three-game weekend series beginning with a single game Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Received on Sun Mar 4 22:28:30 2018
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