HOLLAND, Mich. – The Calvin University baseball team opened its three-game weekend series against Hope College with a 5-2 win on Friday.
 
Calvin (14-21, 5-11 MIAA) out-hit Hope (11-24, 5-11 MIAA) 10-5 and hit a pair of home runs to back up a strong pitching performance from Evan Steinbacher (Sparta, Mich./Sparta).
 
Steinbacher allowed a solo home run in the first inning, but went on to pitch into the ninth inning and only allowed one run the rest of the way to improve to 2-1 on the season.
 
The Knights trailed 1-0 after three innings but scored twice in the fourth on an RBI-ground out by Landen Evans (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) and a two-out RBI-single from Noah Swope (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Knights added to their lead in the sixth with a two-run home run by Ryan Tschirhart (Clinton, Mich./Clinton) that scored Landen Mikula (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns), and then another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Thomas Paplawsky (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) to extend the lead to 5-1.
 
Steinbacher exited the game in the bottom of the ninth after a leadoff double, but reliever Alex DeAngelis (Plymouth, Mich./Salem) and got the final three outs to close out the win.
 
In eight-plus innings, Steinbacher allowed only five hits and one walk while striking out two in his longest outing of the season.
 
Mikula and Tschirhart each finished with three hits, while Paplawsky had two hits. Tschihart's home run was his fifth of the season, while Paplawsky's was his fourth of the season (all in his last six games).
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "Good start to the series today," Calvin head coach Joel Schipper said. "Evan gave us a great start and really set the tone for us. Our offense really got going in the middle innings, and we got some really good swings from Ryan and Thomas to give us some breathing room late."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin baseball will conclude its weekend series against Hope with a home doubleheader tomorrow (Saturday, April 25) starting at 1:00 PM.