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.