AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Calvin University baseball team split its Friday doubleheader with Ohio Northern University (ONU) at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
Calvin (7-7) won the opener 11-10 before Ohio Northern (9-3) won game two 8-0.
Game 1
The Knights started the day with an 11-10 game-one win in a high-scoring affair.
The two teams traded blows throughout the day, including in the first inning as Calvin scored three-times in the inning with the help of RBI-doubles from
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) and
Landon Evans (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake), but ONU answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead.
Calvin struck back in the third inning as
Brock Savage (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights Stevenson) singled home Evans and
Karsten Peglowski (Cave Creek, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5-5, but the Polar Bears answered once again with a run in the bottom half of the third to take a 6-5 lead after three frames.
The Knights came right back in the top of the fourth inning with four more runs thanks to a two-run double by Tschirhart and sacrifice flies by both Evans and Savage to take a 9-6 lead.
ONU cut the Calvin lead to 9-8 with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but
Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) hit a solo home run in the sixth to push the lead back up to 10-8.
After the Polar Bears tied the game with two runs off an error in the sixth inning, the Knights scored a run off an error in the top of the seventh inning to wrestle the lead back at 11-10.
That lead would be enough for
Ethan DeBlecourt (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian/Spring Arbor), who retired three ONU hitters in order in the seventh to secure the win and move to 2-0 on the season.
The Knights recorded 15 hits in the game while only striking out once, with Savage and Tschirhart each finishing with three hits while Bonemer,
Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) and Evans each had two hits.
Cam Seth (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian/GRCC) started the game and pitched the first 4.2 innings for Calvin, allowing eight runs on eight hits while recording three strikeouts. DeBlecourt pitched the final 2.1 innings, allowing two unearned runs on one hit and striking out three.
Game 2
ONU bounced back from its game-one defeat to win game two 8-0.
After a scoreless first inning, the Polar Bears recorded two big innings off Calvin starting pitcher
Drew Diehl (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Catholic Central), scoring three runs in the second inning and then added four more on a grand slam in the fourth inning.
Calvin had opportunities at the plate in the early innings but left six runners on base in the first three frames, including a second inning in which the Knights left the bases loaded.
Diehl (0-1) allowed seven runs on nine hits while striking out one.
Ryan Rohrer (Richland, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) came on in relief and allowed one unearned run on one hit and two walks while striking out four in 3.1 innings.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Was an up and down day against a really good Ohio Northern team today," Calvin head baseball coach
Joel Schipper said. "A lot of positives out of game one and liked how we kept battling and found a way to win that one. Disappointed we couldn't put a full day together with how we played in game two, but looking forward to tomorrow and trying to finish this trip on a high note."
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball will finish its spring break trip in Florida tomorrow (Saturday, March 14) when it faces Penn State Altoona at 1:15 PM and SUNY Fredonia at 4:45 PM, both at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
