ALBION, Mich. - The Calvin University baseball team opened MIAA play with a 9-3 loss at Albion College on Friday.

Albion (13-6, 1-0 MIAA) overcame an early 3-1 Calvin (9-11, 0-1 MIAA) lead and then took control late with a five-run seventh inning. 

The Britons opened the scoring in the first inning following a passed ball, but the Knights answered back with three runs in the top of the second inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and a two-run single from Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) to take a 3-1 lead.

Calvin starting pitcher James Ross (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) held the Britons scoreless in the second inning and got the first two outs in the third before Albion scored twice with a two-out rally that featured a walk and two doubles to tie the game at 3-3.

The game remained tied at 3-3 through six innings until the Britons broke through with a five-run seventh inning off Ross and Calvin reliever Ryan Rohrer (Richland, MIch./Kalamazoo Christian) before adding one more run in the eighth inning on the way to the win.

Ross (1-2) pitched the first six-plus innings for Calvin, allowing six runs on seven hits while striking out seven. 

Calvin finished the game with eight hits but left 11 men on base and finished with 14 strikeouts. Josh Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) led the Knights at the plate with two hits.

COACH'S COMMENT: "Credit to Albion," Calvin head coach Joel Schipper said. "I thought they did a better job of taking advantage of scoring chances and put together the big inning in the seventh to break it open. Today was a disappointing way to start conference play, but we're excited for tomorrow to play at home for the first time this season and try to still win the weekend series."

NEXT UP: Calvin baseball will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, March 28) when it finishes its three-game series against Albion with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 PM.