(Photo courtesy of Olivet Sports Information Department)

OLIVET, Mich. – Calvin softball picked up two conference wins in a doubleheader against Olivet with a 10-1 win in game one followed by a 10-2 win in game two.

The Knights remain in the thick of the MIAA regular season title hunt as they are 8-2 in league play with Hope in first at 7-1 with the two league rivals set to meet in a doubleheader Thursday at Calvin at 3 p.m. at the Gainey Athletic Complex. 

Game 1
Calvin 10, Olivet 1
(5 innings)

The Knights quickly put three runs in the top of the first inning with help from an RBI double from Addi Warner (south Bend, IN / Clay (Lake Michigan CC), and an RBI groundout by Kali Yant (Vicksburg, MI / Vicksburg). Olivet answered with a run in the bottom of the first to only trail 3-1. 

Both teams went scoreless in the second and third inning, but Calvin used a big fourth inning to extend its lead. The Knights put up six runs in the top of the fourth with some hits and fielding errors to lead 9-1 going into the fifth. 

Senior Hannah Biddlecome (Portage, MI / Portage Northern) added an extra run in the top of the fifth with a sac fly to put Calvin up 10-1. The Comets couldn't score any runs in the bottom of the fifth with the Knights securing game one with a final score of 10-1. 

Junior Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, WI / Grafton) picked up her tenth win in the circle with seven strikeouts on the day. Senior Sydney Duong (Kalamazoo, MI / Kalamazoo Christian) finished with three hits and one RBI. 

Freshmen Kennedi Pepin (Bourbonnais, IL / Bradley Bourbonnais), Taylor Sanborn (Midland, MI / Midland), Lily Gaastra (Grand Rapids, MI / Grand Rapids Christian) and Biddlecome each finished the game with two hits. 

Game 2
Calvin 10, Olivet 2
(5 innings)

Calvin quickly began the game with two runs in the bottom of the first to go up 2-0. The Knights then extended its lead in the second inning by scoring five runs. 

Gaastra hit a two-run homer to left field while Biddlecome knocked in two more runs with a triple. Warner finished off the inning with an RBI double to put Calvin up 7-0. Duong hit a sac fly in the third inning to put the Knights up 8-0. 

The Comets scored a run in the fourth inning to trail 8-2. Duong continued her great hitting day with a two-run RBI double to put the Knights up 10-2. Calvin held them off in the top of the sixth to get the 10-2 win. 

Sophomore Maddy Meredith (Portland, MI / Grand Ledge) picked up second win of the season with five strikeouts as well.

Calvin improves to 19-7 overall on the season and 8-2 in the MIAA. 

Duong finished with three hits and three RBIs while Biddlecome ended the day with three hits and two RBIs. Warner and Gaastra both finished with two RBIs in game two. 

COACHES COMMENTS: "Great to pick up two more conference wins on the road," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "Offensively I liked our aggressive approach and execution although we had a few baserunning blunders where we could have added a few more runs. Defensively we played almost error free which was something we talked about before the game. I thought Kirsten and Maddy both worked efficiently which was also a goal today." 

UP NEXT: Calvin will host Hope tomorrow in a doubleheader on Thursday April 21 with game one starting at 3 p.m.