(Photo courtesy of Abby Sheklow, Albion Sports Information Department)

Calvin softball picked up the sweep over Albion in a conference doubleheader with a 4-0 shutout in game one and a 7-6 walk off win in game two.

Game 1
Calvin 4, Albion 0

The Knights got on the board first in game one after two scoreless innings and a two-run homerun by Addi Warner (South Bend, IN / Clay (Lake Michigan CC) put them up 2-0.

Calvin extended its lead over Albion in the fifth inning with an RBI single by freshman Kennedi Pepin (Bourbonnais, IL / Bradley Bourbonnais) to lead 3-0. The Knights continued to add runs with another homerun this time by freshman Taylor Sanborn (Midland, MI / Midland) to put them up 4-0.

Junior Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, WI / Grafton) had a great day on the mound with a shutout over the Britons and had six strikeouts on the day. She also picked up her eighth win of the year.

Game 2
Calvin 7, Albion 6

In game two of the doubleheader, the Knights quickly started the scoring in the first inning with Pepin reaching home on an error. Calvin led 1-0 but added two more runs with a two-run RBI single by Sanborn to put the Knights up 3-0.

Albion got on the board in the second inning with a run, but Calvin answered with another RBI by Sanborn to lead 4-1 after the third inning. 

The Knights put up two more runs in the fifth inning with an RBI double by junior Kali Yant (Vicksburg, MI / Vicksburg) and another RBI by Sanborn on a fielder's choice to lead 6-2. The Britons bounced back in the top of the seventh inning with four runs to tie it at 6-6. Krause came up with a clutch strikeout of an Albion batter with the bases full.

Warner came up clutch for Calvin with a solo walk off home run to left on the first pitch she saw to get the second win for the Knights with a final score of 7-6.

Krause came on in relief and secured her ninth win of the season for the Knights while also collecting five strikeouts as well.

COACH'S COMMENTS: "We are certainly happy to pick up two conference wins tonight," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "The conditions were challenging but I think for the most part we did a good job of controlling what we could control. Offensively we had some nice contributions from the middle of our lineup, but I felt collectively we watched too many good pitches and need to be more aggressive in our pitch selection and approach. Defensively we need to play a little smoother and we just cannot give teams extra outs or at bats. At the end of game two when things got tight, and Albion tied it up I thought that was a good test for our defense to dig deep and grind out of the jam. Overall getting two wins on the road in this conference is big."

NEXT UP: Calvin will host Trine in a key conference doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Gainey Athletic Complex.