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COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. – The Calvin University baseball team celebrated Senior Day with a 9-0 win over Hope College at LMCU Ballpark on Thursday night.
 
Calvin (21-16, 13-6 MIAA) jumped on top early and never looked back behind big performances from their eight available seniors as the Knights held Hope (12-25, 7-12 MIAA) to only six hits and finished off the shutout.
 
Seniors Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and Ryan Brown (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) jump-started the scoring in the first inning as Bonemer led off the game with a single and scored on a two-run home run from Brown to deep right field to give Calvin a 2-0 lead.
 
The Knights batted around in the first inning and added one more run on a Noah Swope (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) walk with the bases loaded, and Bonemer added another run in the second inning after a leadoff triple to push the lead to 4-0.
 
Calvin starting pitcher Nolan Coil (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) was in command from the start, securing quick outs early in the game and holding the Flying Dutchmen to only five hits and one walk while striking out six in 7.1 shutout innings to improve to 6-2 on the season.
 
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) added more offense in the fourth inning with a two-run single and then put the game away with a two-run home run in the eighth inning to extend Calvin's lead to 9-0.
 
Senior pitchers Kyle Koning (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) and Ian Schuster (Howell, Mich./Hartland) combined to pitch the final 1.2 innings in relief and struck out five while allowing only one hit to close out the win.
 
Bonemer finished the day 2-4 with four runs scored in the leadoff spot while Tschirhart went 3-5 with a career-high five runs batted in with the help of his first collegiate home run. Brown's first-inning home run was his second of the season.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "It was a great, great time," Calvin baseball head coach Joel Schipper said. "Nolan Coil got it going for us on the mound today. Great first inning. Ryan Brown hit that two-run home run to kind of get things started off. We got all of our seniors in and they did a phenomenal job and I couldn't think of a better way to send those guys out."


 
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball will return to action on Saturday, May 3, when it closes the three-game weekend series at Hope College with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 1:00 PM.