Calvin’s baseball team struggled this week as they battled harsh weather and tough teams.
Calvin started their week with the home-field advantage, hosting the Adrian Bulldogs in a conference matchup. However, the Knights were unable to use their advantage and lost both ends of the double-header 7-0 and 9-1.
In the opening game of the night, the Knights were only able to scrape up three hits, while Adrian pulled out 12, including a pair of solo home runs. Sophomore Grant VanPutten, senior Ben Cok and freshman Jordan VanderWall take credit for Calvin’s three hits. Sophomore Nate Schepers took the loss on the mound. Schepers struck out three and walked three in five innings of work. Sophomores Austin Juza and Tom Bouwkamp also saw time in relief.
Game two proved a little better for the Calvin bats, but the Knights were unable to put their eight hits together. Junior Cory Laster took the loss at the mound. Laster struck out five batters in six innings of work. Junior Louis Hill Jr. and freshman Kyle Wasserberger came on in relief later in the game.
“Monday was a tough day against Adrian,” says Cok. “We came in thinking we could take two from them, but they showed up ready to play and we didn’t. Bats were cold, and they were ready to hit. They played a lot better than they did on Saturday. We outplayed in the first double header, they got us in the second.”
The Knights then traveled to Mount Pleasant for a non-conference game against the Division I Central Michigan Chippewas, where they couldn’t get in their groove and lost 10-0.
“Playing against Central, that was a fun experience,” comments Cok. “Other than one poor inning we really hung with them. It was a good experience for our guys. I do not think that most of these guys have seen competition like that before in their careers so it was a good learning experience for us. It did show us though that we came really play with some good teams, even if they are Division I. We just need to continue to come out and play our game, and we can compete.”
Despite the awful weather Friday afternoon, the Knights still traveled to Alma and played some of their double-header. Calvin lost the first by a close score of 6-5, and the second was suspended with a tied score of 2-2 due to the weather conditions.
“Our game at Alma was the worst weather I personally have ever played in,” claims VanPutten. “The three other MIAA games were postponed but our game was not. The wind, snow and bitter cold made it hard to focus on playing good baseball. That kind of weather takes all the fun out of the game and really is almost dangerous for the guys trying to perform.”
Despite the rough week for Calvin’s baseball team, the Knights plan on using what they’ve learned and experienced this week to grow and become the team they need to be to reach their goals.
“The games this week so far have been what we needed after how well we played the past couple weeks,” claims sophomore Ben Wohl. “They’ve been a wake-up call for what we need to work on for the rest of the season in order to be the hot team going into the playoffs hopefully.”
The Knights plan on hosting Alma in a double-header on Monday at 2 p.m.
