Baseball team loses to Calvin, 11-1 and 7-4

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Olivet College baseball team lost 11-1 and 7-4 to Calvin College tonight at the Farmers Athletic Complex in Grand Rapids. The games were moved to Davenport University's turf field after the Knights' home field was unplayable.

Olivet scored its only run in the first game in the first inning. Junior Beau Langs (Climax/Climax-Scotts) reached first base on an error and was able to advance to second base on the error. Junior Drew Thompson (Canton/Salem) hit an RBI-single to right field to bring home Langs. Calvin then scored 11 unanswered runs, four in the second, three in the fourth and four in the sixth inning.

Besides Thompson's hit in the first inning, the only other Comet hit in the game was a single by senior Joel Peters (Troy/Avondale) in the seventh inning. Senior righty Jake Ball (Cadillac) was charged with the pitching loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings. Sophomore Stephen Botti (Decatur) pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Sophomore Clark Vinton (Horton/Hanover-Horton) also threw an inning of relief, but gave up four runs on three hits.

Like game one, Olivet jumped out to an early lead in game two. The Comets plated two runs in the top half of the first inning. Freshman Austin Cleaver (St. Johns) reached on a fielder's choice and came around to score on a triple by senior Dylan Betcher (Lansing/Everett). Thompson then roped a single down the right field line to plate Betcher.

Calvin took advantage of two Comet errors to score an unearned run in the bottom half of the first. The Knights kept the scoring going in the second inning with three runs for a 4-2 lead. Olivet answered right back with a pair of runs in the visitor's half of the third inning to knot the score at 4-4.

Calvin grabbed the lead back with a single tally in the third and two more runs in the fourth to gain a 7-4 lead. The Comets brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the top half of the seventh, but the Knight defense turned a double play to end the game.

For the game, Olivet out-hit Calvin, 8-6. Betcher, Cleaver and Thompson each went 2-of-4 at the plate. Betcher scored two runs, while Thompson drove in a pair of runs and stole two bases. Sophomore lefty Colin Boak (Fowlerville) threw the first five innings, surrendering seven runs (two earned) on six hits to suffer the pitching loss. Freshman Thomas Mudge (Vemontville/Maple Valley) tossed a perfect inning of relief, with a strikeout, fly out and ground out.

The teams are scheduled to complete the four-game series tomorrow with two games at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet, starting at 3 p.m.