AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Calvin University baseball team swept day two of its spring trip in Florida with a pair of wins over University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg on Friday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
Calvin (3-1) won the opening game 11-3 before taking game two 7-2 over Pitt-Greensburg (1-3).
Game 1
Calvin dominated game one from start to finish, building a 7-0 lead after two innings before winning 11-3.
The Knights scored four times in the first inning, with
Gabe Jeffries (Freeport, Mich./South Christian) starting the scoring with a two-run single and
Isaac Hubka (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) doubling Jeffries home before scoring on error to push the lead to 4-0.
Calvin added three more runs in the second, with
Landon Evans (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) and Jeffries driving in one run apiece. Two innings later, Evans added a two-run inside the park home run to right field that scored
Parker Seth (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) to extend the lead to 9-0.
That was more than enough offense for
Landen Harris (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw/Concordia University Ann Arbor), who pitched the first four innings and held the Bobcats to two hits and zero runs while striking out four to earn the win in his first start.
Dylan Caracci (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East) pitched the final three innings and earned the save.
The Knights finished the game with 16 total hits, with Evans, Jeffries, Hubka and
Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) each recording three hits apiece. Evans and Jeffries both drove in three.
Game 2
The Knights overcame an early deficit to win game two 7-2 and complete the sweep.
The Bobcats opened the scoring with two runs off Calvin starter
Cam Seth (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian/GRCC), but Seth came back to throw scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the Knights in the game.
Calvin got one run back in the bottom of the third on a double play ball by
Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) and then took the lead on a double by
Josh Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) that scored
Brock Savage (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights Stevenson) and
Karsten Peglowski (Cave Creek, Ariz./Cactus Shadows).
Hunter Scholma (Allendale, Mich./Allendale) singled home Tschirhart in the fifth to push the lead to 4-2 and then added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. With the Knights leading 5-2,
Sam Hungerford (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville) capped the scoring with a two-run single in the sixth inning to extend the Calvin lead to five.
That was more than enough offense for
Ethan DeBlecourt (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian/Spring Arbor), who came on in relief in the sixth and retired all six batters in order to earn the save.
Cam Seth earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out in six in five innings.
The Knights finished with eight hits and walked seven times, with
Gabe Bonemer (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) leading the offense with two hits. Tschirhart scored two runs and stole three bases.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Really good day for us," Calvin head coach
Joel Schipper said. "We saw a bunch of players get an opportunity to play and it was great to see all of them take advantage of that chance and perform at a high level. Was good to see strong pitching in both games, and I was really happy to see us show some grit in game two and find a way to win."
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball returns to action tomorrow when it plays Wartburg College in a doubleheader at Lake Myrtle Sports Park starting at 2:45 PM.
