GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.- Today the Calvin softball team welcomed the Britons of Albion College as strong pitching and hot bats powered them to a doubleheader sweep.
 
GAME 1
CALVIN 5, ALBION 0
 
The Knights came out hot as senior Sydney Duong (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) kicked things off when a pop fly dropped in between second and first base. The dropped ball sent the Britons into a scramble which allowed Duong to reach second. On the next play Duong stole third on a wild pitch before being brought home when Hannah Biddlecome (Dallas, Tx./Portage Northern) laid down a sacrifice bunt. This brought up Carly Dole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) who sent the ball over the left field fence for her fifth home run this season. Tory Decker (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) then hit the left field foul pole screen with a blast of her own, marking her first home run of the season to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
 
The Knights added to their lead in the bottom of the third when Biddlecome had a leadoff double to center field. She then showed off her speed by stealing third before she was brought home by Taylor Sanborn (Midland, Mich./Midland) who hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Decker then stepped up and hit a double down the left field line and was quickly brought in when Emilie Gist (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) hit a double to center field to extend the lead to 5-0.
 
Senior Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, Wis./Grafton) was lights out on the mound for Calvin as she struck seven batters and only game up three hits in the victory.
 
GAME 2
CALVIN, ALBION
 
In game the teams the first two innings flashing their leather as both defenses had some spectacular diving plays. In the top of the third Biddlecome was able to give the Knights a runner when she beat out a throw to first. She was then brought in when Dole tripled to right field. Next up was Sanborn who hit a single to left field and scored Dole to give Calvin a 3-0 lead.
 
The next scoring sequence of the game came in the top of the sixth when Duong stepped up with bases loaded and sent a sacrifice fly to right field to give Calvin a 4-0 lead. Two batters later the bases were once again loaded for Dole who found her way on after forcing four balls. The Britons defense began to feel the pressure as an error allowed another run to score to bring the score to 7-0.
 
The Knights kept the momentum in their favor as they once again found a way to load the bases for Gist who singled up the middle and drove in a run. Kali Yant (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) was up next, and she continued the Calvin hitting streak by hitting a single to left field and scoring two more runs to make it a 10-0 game. A few batters later the Knight once found themselves with bases loaded as pinch hitter Lily Gaastra (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) was hit by a pitch and another run crossed the plate. The final run of the night was scored when Duong came to the plate for the second time that inning and hit a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 12-0.
 
Freshman pitcher Emma Ludema (Martin, Mich./Wayland) then took the field and shut down the Britton to bring the game to an early close after just 6 innings. Ludema and the rest of the Calvin defense never let Albion have a chance as she recorded five strikeouts and only gave up one hit.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Two big conference wins tonight," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "I am really happy with our defensive effort playing error free throughout and not allowing any runs. Offensively, getting those three runs in the first inning was key for us to keep the momentum throughout game one. Game two we got a little outside ourselves offensively at times but stayed with it and finally broke through with the big inning. I was again very pleased with our energy and effort."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Hope College to take on the Dutch. Game one is set to begin at 3 P.M. with game two starting at 5:00 P.M.