Calvin University

Winona, Minn. - Today the Calvin softball continued its stellar appearance at the NCAA III Tournament Regional semifinal when it upset the 11th-ranked Cardinals of Saint Mary's University (Mn.) 8-6.
 
The Knights continued their trend of finding an offensive spark early as freshman Bella Duimstra (Jenison, Mich./Unity Christian) led off the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle. Two batters later, senior Carly Dole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) didn't waste any time as she sent the first pitch of her at-bat over the center field fence for a two-run home run, her sixth home run of the season.
 
Freshman Kendall Jordan (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) kept the momentum in the Knights favor when she notched a home run of her own shortly after to give the Knights a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
 
However, the lead didn't last long as the Cardinals got hot offensively and took advantage of a few Calvin defense errors to score six runs in the top of the second to give themselves the 6-3 lead over the Knights.
 
The next scoring opportunity for Calvin didn't come until the bottom of the third inning when junior Natalie Bush (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) knocked her twelfth home run of the season off a two-run shot to center field to cut the Saint Mary's lead down to just one run.
 
In the fifth inning, the Knights kept things rolling when Tory Decker (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) and Jordan hit back-to-back singles before both moving into scoring position thanks to a passed ball. This brought up junior Emily Sweetland (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline) who came through with a clutch double down the left field line to score both runs and give the lead back to the Knights. 
 
Pinch hitter Alanna Garcia (Holt, Mich./Holt) singled to center field to move Sweetland to third before junior Aubrey Herder (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) notched her first RBI of the game when a fielder's choice play allowed Sweetland to score and make the score 8-6 Calvin.
 
In the sixth and seventh innings the Knights took care of business on defense as they kept the Cardinals off the base path and eventually walked away with the big 8-6 victory. Senior Emma Ludema (Martin, Mich./Wayland) started the game in the circle for Calvin before fellow senior Brooke Hunderman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Calvin Christian) entered the game in the middle of the second inning. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "A very competitive softball playoff game today," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "We threw the first punch scoring in the first and they punched back with the big inning in the second where we had a few miscues on defense. I thought we did a good job staying cool and we didn't let anything spiral and just kept chipping away offensively. Brooke and the defense really locked in late in the game and a few clutch hits put us on top. This group is excited to get to the championship game and have another day to compete together."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow at 11 AM (CT) in the NCAA III Tournament Regional Championship game. Calvin will await the results of this afternoon's games to find out their opponent.