LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. - The Calvin University baseball team erased a six-run deficit with 15 runs in the final two innings to score a 19-12 come from behind win at Covenant (Ga.) in game one of a three-game weekend series.
Calvin (5-5) jumped in front early with run-scoring hits from
Caden Penn (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) and
Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) to take a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second inning.
Covenant (3-5) took over from there, scoring eight runs in the second and third frames, and then adding one more in the fifth off Calvin starting pitcher
Ian Doyle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grandville) to take a 9-3 lead.
The Knights' bullpen kept the team in the game in the middle innings, as
Evan Steinbacher (Sparta, Mich./Sparta),
Fletcher Bandstra (Schererville, Ind./Illiana Christian) and
Alex DeAngelis (Plymouth, Mich./Salem) combined to throw three scoreless innings to keep the Scots at nine runs after seven.
After a Bonemer home run in the seventh to cut the deficit to 9-4, the Knights erupted for eight runs in the eighth to take a 12-9 lead.
Matt Raymond (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) opened the scoring with a lead-off home run and was followed by a two-run, pinch-hit home run by
Nate Mason (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) two batters later.
Trailing by two,
Will Mueller (Aurora, Ill./Matea Valley) scored on a wild pitch, and
Ryan Brown (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) followed with an RBI-single to tie the game 9-9. After a Penn single that scored
Carson Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian),
Patrick Gillen (Jensen Beach, Fla./Jensen Beach) added to a two-run single to push the Calvin lead to 12-9.
After a scoreless inning from from
Ben Ferguson (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) in the bottom of the eighth, the Knights added seven more runs in the top of the ninth, capped by a two-run home run from Gillen and a solo homer from Mason, his second of the day.
Ferguson pitched the final two innings to secure the save, while DeAngelis (1-0) earned the win after his shutout seventh inning.
Calvin finished the game with 21 hits, with Gillen leading the charge with four hits, four RBI and two runs scored. Bonemer, Brown and Raymond finished with three hits apiece, while Warners and Bonemer each scored three runs.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Great middle relief pitching kept us in the game," Calvin head baseball coach
Kevin Van Duyn said. "That allowed our bats to come alive late in the game. Great growth and character win after 11 hours on a bus and we competed until the very last out."
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball returns to action at Covenant tomorrow (Saturday, March 11) when it plays the Scots in a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
