AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Calvin University baseball team opened the season and its spring break trip to Florida with a doubleheader split against Bluffton University on Thursday.
Calvin (1-1) battled Bluffton (3-5) and the elements, winning game one 14-5 through two rain delays before overcoming an 8-0 deficit to tie the game before falling 9-8 in 10 innings to close the day.
Game 1
Calvin overcame a pair of rain delays to win game one 14-5.
The Knights built a 14-0 lead through five innings after scoring at least once in every inning to that point of the game. Calvin scored once in the first inning, two in the second, four more in the third, five in the fourth and twice in the fifth to build the lead.
Landon Evans (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) opened the scoring with an RBI-double in the first inning and then added two more on RBI-singles by
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) and Landon Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) in the second.
Christian Stevens (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) and Tschirhart both hit two-run singles in the third inning to push the lead to 7-0, and the Knights added five more in the fourth with the help of a two-run single by
Josh Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian).
James Ross (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) opened the game with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
Ben Ferguson (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) earned the win with two scoreless innings.
Ryan Rohrer (Richland, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) also pitched a scoreless inning in relief to close the game.
The Knights finished with 14 hits in the game, led by two apiece by Tschirhart, Mikula,
Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos), Stevens and Winkle. Bonemer also had three of the Knights' nine stolen bases.
Game 2
Calvin overcame an 8-0 deficit after two innings to tie the game 8-8 in the sixth inning before losing 9-8 in 10 frames.
The Beavers scored once in the first inning and then took advantage of five walks and one error to score seven runs in the second to put the Knights in an 8-0 bind.
After the Knights scratched across three runs in the third with the help of a two-run single from
Parker Seth (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian). the Calvin bullpen stepped up to keep the game within striking distance as
Ben Hoekstra (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) overcome a tough second inning to hold the Beavers scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth inning.
Hunter Scholma (Allendale, Mich./Allendale) hit an RBI-single in the fifth to cut the deficit to 8-4, Tschirhart hit a three-run home run to left center field in the sixth inning to make the score 8-7, and Scholma tied the game later in the inning with another RBI-single that scored Bonemer.
Reed Grinstern (Kentwood, Mich./South Christian) relieved Hoekstra and pitched scoreless innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth. The sixth inning ended with Winkle throwing out the potential winning run at home plate, and Grinstern stranded the bases loaded in the eighth.
Hunter Burkett (Los Angeles, Calif./Pacifica Christian) came on in the ninth and escaped another bases loaded jam in the ninth inning, but could not escape a jam in the 10th as Bluffton's Tyler Forest hit a bases-loaded single into the left centerfield gap to win the game for the Beavers.
Tschirhart, Seth and Scholma each finished with two hits apiece and combined for seven runs batted in. Bonemer added two more stolen bases for five on the day.
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball returns to action tomorrow (Friday, March 6) when it faces University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in a doubleheader at 3:15 at Lake Myrtle Sports Park.
