ANGOLA, Ind. - The Calvin softball team bowed out of the MIAA Tournament with a pair of Saturday defeats at Trine University.

Calvin opened the day with a 5-0 loss to host and top-seeded Trine and then fell 9-6 to rival Hope in an elimination game.

GAME ONE
Trine 5, Calvin 0

Trine jumped on Calvin for five runs in the first inning. The Thunder placed their first two runners aboard with a hit batter and a subsequent bunt that was thrown wild by the Knights, putting runners on first and third. Junior pitcher Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, Wisc./Grafton HS) was able to get two outs but the Thunder came up with a two-out single that scored two and added another single and then a fielder's choice that brought home three more runs.

The Knights settled down from that point but were unable to generate any significant offense against Trine starter Adrienne Rosey who limited the Knights to four hits while striking out 13 batters.

Junior Sydney Duong (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian HS) had two of Calvin's four hits – both of which were doubles.

GAME TWO
Hope 9, Calvin 6

Hope scored seven unearned runs against the Knights to gain the win. A first inning error proved costly to the Knights as a two-out triple with the bases loaded brought home three unearned runs and allowed Hope to get out on the front foot with a 3-0 lead.

Senior Hannah Biddlecome (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern HS) singled, stole second and came home on a run-scoring single by senior Addi Warner (South Bend, Ind./Clay HS) in the bottom of the first to give the Knights a run back.

Calvin had a chance to take the lead in the fifth, bringing home a run with a bases-loaded walk by Warner with no outs to make it 3-2. Hope got out of the jam however with back to back ground balls that resulted in force-outs at the plate. A strikeout by the Knights extinguished the threat as Calvin stranded three runners.

Hope scored two in the top of the sixth with the Knights getting one back in the bottom half on an RBI groundout by Biddlecome to make it 5-3.

In the top of the seventh, a two-out error by the Knights loaded the bases and Hope followed with a grand-slam home run to right-center to give the Flying Dutch a 9-3 lead.

Calvin (28-11) picked up three runs in the bottom of the seventh. A Hope error brought home freshman Kennedi Pepin (Bourbannais, Il./Bradley Bourbannais HS) after Pepin had doubled to left-center. Sophomore Grace Glass (Indianapolis, Ind./Heritage Christian HS) brought home a run with an RBI single and Duong followed with a sac fly to left with the bases full. A flyout to center ended the game however as the Calvin comeback effort came up short.

Calvin stranded 11 runners in the loss and outhit Hope 9-7. Calvin committed three errors which led to the seven unearned runs.

Glass was 3-for-3 at the plate while freshman Taylor Sanborn (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) had two hits.

Krause went all seven innings for the Knights and took the loss, falling to 15-7 on the year. She struck out one and walked three.

COACHES COMMENT: "In these playoff games you have to do the little things and unfortunately we allowed two good teams too many extra opportunities to execrute on offense," said Calvin head softball coach Becky Hilgert. "Maybe if one or two plays go differently, we might have a different outcome. That is why we play this great game. Sometimes softball is good you and sometimes it is cruel. For our young squad however, this was a great opportunity to see why they work so hard throughout the season, to earn these moments. I am really proud of how we competed through this tournament and now we leave our fate up to the NCAA committee to see if our resume' is strong enough to get another NCAA (Tournament) bid."

NEXT UP: Calvin will turn its attention to the NCAA Tournament selection show on Monday which is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. (EST) on NCAA.com.