GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University baseball team returned home for the first time this season and lost both games of its doubleheader to Albion College on Saturday.
Albion (15-6, 3-0 MIAA) won game-one 8-2 and then rallied to overcome a 9-2 Calvin (9-13, 0-3 MIAA) lead to win game two 11-9.
Game 1
The Britons jumped in front early and never looked back on the way to an 8-2 win in game one.
Albion scored at least once in each of the first four innings, scoring once in the first inning, twice in the second, once in the third, and three more times in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead. The Britons scored all seven of those runs (four earned) off Calvin starting pitcher
Landen Harris (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw), who struggled to find command in the cold weather in his 3.2 inning outing.
Drew Diehl (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Catholic Central) came on in relief and allowed only one run on three hits in the final 5.1 innings to give the Calvin offense a chance, but the Knights were only able to score two runs in the eighth inning on RBI-groundouts by
Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and
Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns).
Harris (1-2) took the loss on the mound after allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out three in 3.2 innings. Diehl struck out five and allowed three hits and one run in 5.1 innings of relief.
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton),
Peyton Ruthven (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) and
Josh Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) each finished with two hits apiece for Calvin.
Game 2
Calvin held a 9-2 lead through six innings, but Albion charged back to win game-two 11-9 to finish off the three-game series.
After the Britons scored once in the top of the first inning off an error, Calvin answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-groundout from Tschirhart and an RBI-double from
Landon Evans (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) to take a 2-1 lead.
The Knights added runs in the second and third innings to extend the lead to 4-1, and then added two more on a two-run error on a tough hop off the bat of
Noah Swope (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) to push the lead to 6-1.
Albion scored once in the sixth inning off Calvin starting pitcher
Noah Etnyre (Northville, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy), but the Knights once again answered in the bottom of the sixth as Bonemer scored on a wild pitch and Tschirhart hit a two-run home run to push the lead to 9-2.
The Britons started their rally in the seventh with a three-run home run to cut the deficit to 9-5 and then scored four times in the eighth inning to tie the game at 9-9. In the ninth, the Britons started the inning with a base hit and took the lead on a wild pitch before adding a second run with the help of three walks and a sacrifice fly. In the last Calvin at bat in the ninth, the Britons retired the side in order to secure the comeback win.
Etnyre was dominant for much of his start, working his way around four Calvin errors to hold the Britons to three runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out six in 6.1 innings.
Ben Hoekstra (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) fell to 1-2 on the season in defeat after allowing five runs on six hits in 1.1 innings in relief.
The Knights recorded 10 hits in the game, led by Tschirhart with three, including his second home run of the season.
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball will return to action on Tuesday, March 31, when it hosts Kalamazoo College in a game scheduled to start at 4:00 PM.
