DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Calvin softball team recorded two victories at Defiance on Friday afternoon to improve to 8-4 on the year. The Knights struck early in game one to win, 13-3. Calvin finished the day downing Defiance in game two, 8-0. The Yellow Jackets are now 9-9 in 2016.

"We really hit the ball well today," said Calvin head coach Tim Syrek. "Our pitching was also very solid in the cold weather today. There are some things we need to improve on and we are not satisfied for sure. We will have to keep grinding it out."

The Calvin bats left off where they started in Florida on Friday. The Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Freshman Maddie DeGroot started the Knights off with a single through the left side of the infield. Senior Lydia Gildea would score DeGroot with a single to left field. Freshman Anna Gernant would help her effort in the circle with a single up the middle with the bases loaded, scoring Gildea and freshman Rachel Borden.

The Yellow Jackets would score one in the bottom of the first inning to trail, 3-1.

Sophomore Jessica Brasser would start the scoring in the second inning getting walked with the bases loaded, sending in junior Caitlin Bell. Lydia Gildea would then double to right center to clear the bases, scoring Jessica Brasser, Rachel Borden and Maddie DeGroot.

Maddie DeGroot started the third inning with a bang. DeGroot sent the ball over the fence for her third homerun of the year. Lydia Gildea would later score Rachel Borden.

Anna Gernant got herself out of a jam in the bottom of the third inning. With runners on second and third she struck out Jackie Hartman and with the bases loaded she struck out Kaity Kuhn to get out of the inning, without giving up a run.

Anna Gernant doubled in freshman Kristen Newman from second base to get the ball rolling in the fourth inning. Maddie DeGroot would then double in Gernant. Jessica Brasser would finish the Calvin half of the fourth inning with a single through the right side of the infield to score DeGroot.

Defiance would take two runs onto the scoreboard to cut the Calvin lead to, 12-3.

Freshman Kayla Carter scored senior Ashley Riemersma in the fifth inning.

The score would hold and the mercy rule was enforced.

Anna Gernant dominated the Defiance batters on Friday with a career-high 13 strikeouts. She gave up only two hits and no earned runs in the victory. Gernant is now 4-1 on the season.

Maddie DeGroot led all batters with four hits, including a double and a homerun. She finished game one with four runs and two RBI. Lydia Gildea finished with five, tying her career-high that she recorded last Tuesday against Macalester.

"I am very happy with how we played today," said Gildea. "We played as a team and had each other's backs through every play. It was certainly a big day for us offensively and I was happy to be a part of that. My favorite part about the RBIs is that the stat isn't really about me, it's about the girls ahead of me who were successful and got on base. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the season. We'll be doing some great things the rest of the year."

Game two would also only take five innings for the Knights to win.

Ashley Riemersma started the scoring spree in game two in the first inning with a single to center field that scored Rachel Borden. Riemersma would score Borden again in the third inning to give Calvin a 2-0 lead.

The Knights would break the game open in the fourth inning with five runs. Maddie DeGroot scored Newman with a double to left center field. Jessica Brasser would score Bell and DeGroot with a single to left field. Lydia Gildea sent the ball over the right-field fence for her first homerun of the year.

Caitlin Bell would score the final run of the day in the fifth inning with a single to right field that scored Anna Gernant.

Junior Paige Groom kept the Yellow Jacket lineup silent on Friday, with only one hit given up. Groom improves to 2-2 on the year.

Maddie DeGroot had a game-high three hits in the second game. DeGroot was a perfect seven for seven behind the plate on Friday and now has a .457 batting average, which is the highest on the team.

"I felt really good at the plate today," said DeGroot. "Our team generated a lot of momentum and we put a lot of runs on the board today. It is always a great feeling knowing that the entire lineup can contribute to two big wins and I'm happy that I could do my part in that. I went into each at bat with the intention of good contact and it really worked out for us today."

Ashley Riemersma and Caitlin Bell both had two hits in the second game.

The Knights continue their Ohio road trip when they play at Bluffton in a double header on Saturday.