WHEATON, Ill. - Today the Calvin baseball team wrapped up their appearance at the Wheaton Invitation when they took on Saint Mary's and Wheaton.
 
GAME ONE
CALVIN 9, SAINT MARY'S 14
 
In their first game of the day the Knights looked to take on the Cardinals of Saint Mary's (Mn). The Cardinal struck first as they scored two runs in the top of the first inning before Calvin responded in the bottom of the inning when graduate student Nate Mason (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) doubled to right field to score junior Logan Nelson (Fremont, Mich./Fremont) and sophomore Ryan Schummer (West Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic) to tie things up.
 
Both teams scored a run in both the second and fourth inning before Saint Mary's went on a bit of a scoring run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning to make the score 9-5. The Knights entered the bottom of the ninth in a do-or-die situation and showed sparks of life when Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) took advantage of a Cardinal error and crossed the plate.
 
On the next play, Schummer continued to have a day as he singled to right field to score Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) before a sacrifice fly ball from Hunter Scholma () cut Saint Mary's lead to one. One batter later, Ryan Brown (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) came in clutch as he singled to right field to score Schummer and sent the game into extra innings.
 
Unfortunately for the Knights, the Cardinals dominated the tenth inning when they scored five runs in the top before shutting out Calvin in the bottom and walking away with the 14-9 victory.
 
Sophomore Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) notched a team high three RBIs while Mason finished with two RBIs. On the mound, junior Evan Steinbacher (Sparta, Mich./Sparta) got the start where he went five innings and recorded three strikeouts. Freshman Drew Diehl (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Catholic Central) pitched four complete innings and notched two strikeouts before junior Ethan DeBlecourt (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and senior Kyle Koning (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo) each made appearances. 
 
GAME TWO
CALVIN 4, WHEATON 7
 
The Knights looked to bounce back in game two as they turned their attention to the Thunder of Wheaton. In the first inning, Calvin got on the board first when Mason tripled to right center to score Schummer and Cam Seth (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Chriatian) and take the 2-0 lead.
 
From that point forward, Wheaton took control as they hit back with three runs in the bottom of the first before adding four more throughout the next eight innings. In the top of the ninth inning the Knights tried to find some momentum when Matt Reynolds (Hopkins, Mich./Hopkins) hit a two-run triple to make the score 4-7. However, the Thunder defense locked in, and the Knights fell short to Wheaton in their final game of the Wheaton Invitational.
 
Seth finished the game with three hits while Reynolds recorded two hits. On the mound, Seth went five innings where he recorded five strikeouts before Alex DeAngelis (Plymounth, Mich./Salem) entered the game and recorded six strikeouts. 
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Thursday, March 27th when they take on Grace Christian at home at 4PM.