ALBION, Mich. - Calvin swept a Friday doubleheader at Albion, winning game one 4-3 and game two 8-7.

The Knights are now 21-14 on the season and finish the MIAA regular season with a 16-8 conference record. The Knights are currently in second place in the MIAA standings in terms of total wins. However, the final regular season standings will be determined by a mathematical formula based on win percentage and opponents win percentage at the conclusion of the MIAA regular season which is set to conclude tomorrow. 

Calvin's seeding in next week's MIAA Tournament will be determined based on a post-season MIAA coaches' ranking that will be determined later this weekend. 

At 21-14, Calvin has hit the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2017 and for the first time under current head coach Kevin VanDuyn. The Knights are also assured of a 20-win season above .500 for the first time since 2015. Calvin currently owns an eight-game win streak and has won 14 of its last 20 games. 

GAME ONE
Calvin 4, Albion 3

Albion outhit Calvin 10-4 but the Knights used a three-run third to build a 3-1 lead and added a key insurance run in the sixth to gain the win. 

Junior Hayden White (Spring Valley, Ca./Grossmont) went the first five innings to bump his season record to 3-1. White struck out four and did not walk a batter. Junior Eli Johnson (Stillwater, Oklahoma/Stillwater HS) came on to pitch the final two innings of relief to gain his second save of the season. 

After falling behind 1-0, Calvin loaded the bases and scored two runs on back-to-back walks to senior Damion Pompey (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg HS) and junior Ryan Petersen (Glen Ellyn, Il./Glenbard West HS). Sophomore Caden Penn (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North HS) drove in a third run with a fielder's choice that plated sophomore Carson Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) from third. 

In the sixth, junior Matt Raymond (Chicago, Il./Loyola Academy) led off with a single and scored on a two-out RBI double to right-center by junior Will Baldwin (Lake Orion, Mich./Notre Dame HS) that gave Calvin a 4-1 lead. 

The insurance run proved crucial as the Britons scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a one-run game. Johnson was able to bear down in the seventh, striking out the first two batters he faced and ending the game with a flyout to center. 

GAME TWO
Calvin 8, Albion 7 (9 innings)

Calvin used an early surge then found a way to fight back to gain an extra-innings win in the series finale.

The Knights jumped on the Britons for five runs in the top of the first highlighted by a three-run homer by junior Nick Vogel (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford HS). Junior Andrew Hung (Waterford, Mich./Waterford Mott HS) gave Calvin a 6-0 lead with a sac fly in the third. 

The Brits came back with two runs in the third and another in the fourth. Vogel drove in his fourth run of the game, doing so with an RBI single in the fifth to give the Knights a 7-3 lead.

Albion rallied in the bottom of the sixth however, scoring four runs to tie the game. 

Both teams traded goose eggs in the seventh and eighth before the Knights broke through in the top of the ninth. Petersen led off with a single to right, moved to second on a sac bunt by Penn and then move to third on a single to left by senior Ricky Padilla (Poway, Ca./Poway HS). Raymond then delivered a fly ball to center that was deep enough to bring home Petersen from third on the sac fly. 

In the bottom of the ninth, senior Henry Breems (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) struck out the opening batter, allowed a single but closed out the game on a game-ending double-play ground ball to Pompey at shortstop. 

Breems picked up the win, doing so in 3.2 innings of relief. Breems struck out three batters and did not issue a walk. Junior Zach Thor (Woodbury, Mn./New Life Academy) gave the Knights a quality start, going 5.1 innings that included five strikeouts and just one walk. 

Vogel was 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI. Padilla and Raymond had two hits each with Hung driving in a pair of runs. One of Raymond's two hits was a triple. 

COACHES COMMENT: "That's just how we have played all year," said Calvin head baseball coach Kevin VanDuyn. "We've been involved in a lot of close games. Even when we had a tough inning in game two, we were resilient and able to bounce back quickly. I thought our pitching was tremendous again today in both games. We had great defense and a little bit of timely hitting which proved to be a good formula. The last two weekends we wanted to see the makeup of our guys and they have been resilient. We told our guys that Chapter one (regular season) is over. Now it's time to get ready for chapter two with the league tournament."