Box Score GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin baseball team took down Albion in the first round of the MIAA Tournament with a score of 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Knights jumped out of the gate in the first inning as they took the early 1-0 lead. Senior Ricky Padilla (Poway, CA / Poway) hit a sac fly out to right field to score senior Damion Pompey (Edwardsburg, MI / Edwardsburg). Both teams struggled to get any offense in the second and third inning, but the Britons broke through in the fourth inning.
Albion had a player on first base after an error by Calvin and starting pitcher Trevor VanDuyn (Jenison, MI / Jenison) struck out the next two batters. The Britons got through and hit a triple to tie the game 1-1 after the top of the fourth. The Knights couldn't get any runs in the fourth and fifth inning and the game was still tied heading into the sixth inning.
VanDuyn was pitching a strong game for Calvin and got through sixth inning with no runs. The Knights put another run on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Nick Vogel (Hartford, WI / Hartford) hit a huge RBI double to left field to score Padilla from second and give Calvin a 2-1 lead.
VanDuyn continued to shut the Britons down in the seventh and eighth to hold on to the 2-1 lead. The Knights added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth with two more runs. Matt Raymond (Chicago, IL / Loyola Academy) hit a clutch RBI single to score Padilla from third to give Calvin a 2-1 lead. Senior Andrew Hung (Waterford, MI / Waterford) hit a sac fly two batters later to extend the lead to 4-1 heading into the ninth inning.
Albion threatened in the ninth with by scoring a run to make it 4-2, but junior Eli Johnson (Stillwater, OK / Stillwater) sealed the save and the win for the Knights. Calvin picked up its 22nd win of the season and advances to the winner's bracket of the MIAA Tournament to face rival Hope. VanDuyn collected his sixth win of the season while Johnson posted his third save of the year. VanDuyn now has 18 career victories, ranking fifth on the Calvin career list.
COACHES COMMENT: "It was a good start to the tournament," said Calvin head coach Kevin VanDuyn. "This team has had the ability to dig down and grind when it needs to. I thought we did a good job of grinding again today. It's a one-inning, one-game at a time mentality right now. We are just grateful to being playing baseball and we look forward to another challenge tomorrow morning."
UP NEXT: Calvin (22-14) will travel to play rival Hope (23-13) on Thursday May 13 at 10 a.m.
