GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.- Today the Calvin softball continued postseason play as the Knights competed in day two of the MIAA Tournament. In game one, an elimination game, the Knights beat Adrian 3-2 in a ten-inning thriller before falling to Trine 7-1 in the finals.
 
GAME 1
CALVIN 3, ADRIAN 2
 
In the first game of the day Calvin faced the Adrian Bulldogs in an elimination game. The two teams met earlier in the season where they split during the doubleheader matchup. Today Adrian got out to a quick start when it strung together a few hits to score two runs in the top of the first inning.
 
In the bottom of the first inning Calvin fought back as senior Sydney Duong (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) kicked things off with a leadoff triple, her seventh of the season. Hannah Biddlecome (Dallas, Tx./Portage Northern) then stepped into the batter's box where she beat out bunt and allowed Duong to cross the plate for Calvin's first run of the day.
 
The next scoring opportunity for the Knights came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Duong was able to find her way on base with a fielder's choice play. On the next play a ground ball by Biddlecome advanced Duong into scoring position. This brought up freshman Carly Dole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) who singled to right field to score Duong and tie the game up at 2-2.
 
Senior pitcher Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, Wis./Grafton) and the rest of the Knights defense remained strong as they continued to snuff out any scoring opportunities Adrian tried to create. After seven inning the score remained tied so, for their third game in a row, the Knights headed into extra innings.
 
Scoring chances remained hard to come by as both teams' offenses struggled to find holes in the opposing defense. In the bottom of the ninth Sage Mougin (New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie) and Biddlecome both hit singles to give the Knights some baserunner, but they were left stranded as Adrian retired the sign. In the bottom of the tenth inning sophomore Taylor Sanborn (Midland, Mich./Midland) gave Calvin some energy when she made contact for a leadoff single up the middle. Ella Steele (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian) entered the game as a pinch runner and was quickly advanced to third when pinch hitter Tory Decker (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) send a single to right field. Two batters later the Adrian catcher led the ball slip by her and seeing the opportunity, Steele barreled home as the winning run for the Knights.
 
Krause went the distance for Calvin in the circle and after giving up two runs in the first she proceeded to pitch nine shutout innings. She recorded two strikeouts and gave up five hits as she moved her record to 12-6 on the season.
 
GAME 2
TRINE 7, Calvin 1
 
In game two the Knights faced a rematch with Trine who had beaten them yesterday with a walk off homerun in the bottom of the tenth inning. This time it was Calvin who got off to a hot start as Sanborn led off the top of the second inning with a single to left field. Josie Vink (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) replaced Sanborn as a pinch runner and was advanced to second when Decker laid down a sacrifice bunt. A bunt from Grace Glass (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) moved the runner to third before a defense error allowed Vink to score and gave the Knights a 1-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the second inning the Thunder racked up four hits of their own and scored three runs to take the 3-1 lead over Calvin. Trine picked up another run in the bottom of the third inning before tacking on three more in the bottom of the sixth inning as they went on to claim the 7-1 over the Knights.
 
Zoe Hazelhoff (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) started on the mound for Calvin before being replaced with Emma Ludema (Martin, Mich./Wayland) in the second inning. Brooke Hunderman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Calvin Christian) and Mia Miller (Kalkaska, Mich./Kalkaska) also got some time in the circle as they both made appearances in the sixth inning.
 
After MIAA Tournament play Calvin's record moves to a 29-11 record and the Knights will wait for the Selection Show on to Monday which will determine whether they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA DIII Tournament.
 
COACHES COMMENT: "I couldn't be more proud with the way we competed over the last two days," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "To play 37 innings in just over 24 hours really shows the grit and fight of our squad. Now, we wait for Monday and the national committee's decision to see if we are able to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. I feel our resume' and body of work is very strong. We have faith things will work out in our favor and if not, we had one heck of a season."
 
UP NEXT: The Selection Show will stream on NCAA.com on Monday, May 15^th at 1PM (EST) where the Knights will be hoping to nap an at-large bid to the NCAA DIII Tournament.