ALBION, Mich. - The Calvin University baseball team closed its season with a doubleheader split at Albion College on Saturday. The Knights won the opener 17-5 before dropping game two 9-7.

GAME 1

The Knights jumped on the Brits from the start with eight runs in the first inning and never looked back on the way to a 17-5 win in game one.

Calvin (19-20, 10-11 MIAA) sent 13 hitters to the plate in the big opening inning as the first two batters were hit by pitches, and Matt Raymond (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) singled home Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) to start the scoring. Nate Mason (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) followed with a bases-clearing double to push the lead to 4-0, and after two more hit batters and a Carson Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) RBI-single, Patrick Gillen (Jensen Beach, Fla./Jensen Beach) added another bases-clearing double to give the Knights an 8-0 lead.

Albion (12-27, 9-12 MIAA) started to peck away at the Calvin lead, scoring once in the first, once in the third and three more times in the fourth inning, but the Knights answered with one run in the fifth inning and then put the game away with five more runs in the seventh. 

Warners started the scoring in the seventh with a two-run single, and Gillen followed with another RBI-double, giving him a Calvin single-season record of 17 on the season. The RBI also pushed his single-season record total to 52 on the season. 

Kyle Koning (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Central) started the game on the mound and allowed two runs in three innings before giving way to the bullpen. Ben Ferguson (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win (2-1), and Nolan Coil (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) earned the save with three scoreless innings to close the game.

Raymond led the offensive effort with four hits, two runs and two RBI, while Gillen finished with four RBI and two hits. Caden Penn (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North), Mason, Ryan Brown (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia), Will Mueller (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) and Warners each recorded a pair of hits.

GAME 2

The Knights once again started strong, but a pair of big innings by the Brits allowed Albion to take game two 9-7.

Penn put the Knights on top with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and Dylan Williams (Cedar Springs, Mich./Cedar Springs) and Warners pushed the lead to 3-0 with a pair of RBI in the fourth.

Albion would take control from there, however, scoring five times off in the fifth inning off Calvin starting pitcher Connor Comiskey (Shelby Township, Mich./Lutheran North) and reliever Kyle Pretzer (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) to take a 5-3 lead. 

Raymond tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run single in the top of the sixth, but the Brits added four more runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 9-5 advantage. 

Calvin scored twice in the seventh to cut the lead in half, but could not get any closer the rest of the way as Albion held on for the win.

Bonemer led the Knights with four hits and scored two runs, while Mason and Raymond each added three hits of their own.

The Knights finished with 14 hits in the game to set a new record total of 428 for the season. Calvin also broke its single-season record for runs scored with 300 this season, and tied the program record with 87 doubles.

COACH'S COMMENT: "We put up some tremendous offensive numbers this season," Calvin head baseball coach Kevin Van Duyn said about the program records that fell. "Congratulations to Patrick GIllen and Matt Raymond (all-time leader in times hit by pitch with 37) for their individual accomplishments, along with the team setting some impressive records. Proud of our seniors for the legacy they leave behind, and we're excited to get to work this summer and see our improvements come fall ball."