CAROL STREAM, Ill. – The Calvin University baseball team built a big lead early and held off a late charge by Wheaton College (Ill.) to defeat the Thunder 12-10 on Thursday.
Calvin (9-7) led 9-0 after four innings thanks to three separate three-run innings in the first, second and fourth innings.
Caden Penn (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) started the scoring with a sacrifice fly to score
Ryan Brown, and
Matt Reynolds (Hopkins, Mich./Hopkins) followed with an RBI-single and a
Carter Penn (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) steal of home to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
Nate Mason (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) hit a three-run home run in the second to push the advantage to 6-0, while Reynolds and
Caden Penn added RBI-singles in the fourth to extend the lead to 9-0.
After Wheaton (5-7) scored twice in the fifth on a pair of walks, Reynolds hit a solo home run in the sixth, and
Will Mueller (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to build the lead back up to 11-2.
The Thunder got their offense going in the seventh with a pair of runs, and then answered a Reynolds steal of home in the top of the eighth inning with two more runs in the bottom half.
Trailing 12-6 in their final at bat, the Thunder hit a grand slam off Calvin reliever
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) to cut the deficit to 12-10, but Tschirhart retired the final two batters to secure the win for the Knights.
Nolan Coil (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) started for the Knights and worked in and out of trouble through four-plus innings, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four.
Mason finished the day 2-5 with four runs batted in, while Reynolds went 3-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and stolen bases.
Patrick Gillen (Jensen Beach, Fla./Jensen Beach) went 2-4 with three runs scored and reached base four times in the game.
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball returns to action on Saturday, March 23, when it travels to third-ranked Denison for a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12:00 PM.
