Softball team closes season with two losses against Calvin, 8-7 and 8-3

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College softball team ended the 2016 season with a pair of losses in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader against Calvin College on a rainy Senior Day at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. The first game was back-and-forth before the Knights scored a run in the seventh to win the game, 8-7. Calvin won the second game by an 8-3 score.

In the opener, the Knights led 1-0 behind a leadoff home run by Maddie DeGroot. The Comets took the lead back on a two-run home run by junior Carrie Chamberlain in the home half of the first. Calvin had the bases loaded but only managed to push across the tying run in the second inning.

Olivet seized a 5-2 lead with a three-run third inning. Junior Molly Renfroe was hit by a pitch, junior Taylor Smith hit a double and sophomore Haley Reed reached on an infield single to fill the bases. Junior Ashlynn Grubb nearly cleared them with a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Reed went to third base on the hit and then scored on sophomore Konnor Geiger's sacrifice fly.

The Knights leveled the score at 5-5 with a single tally in the fourth and two runs in the fifth. The Comets used a two-out rally to score two runs in their half of the fifth inning. Chamberlain walked and sophomore Olivia Peraino came into the game to run for her. Geiger walked and senior Christine Wood pinch-ran for her. Sophomore Larissa Ludwick then roped a double to deep center field to plate Peraino and Wood.

Calvin tied the game with two runs in the sixth inning. The first came in on a wild pitch and the second on a double by Lydia Gildea. The Knights manufactured what proved to be the winning run in the seventh on a single, sacrifice bunt and two-out infield hit. Olivet had the tying run on base in bottom half of the seventh but failed the score.

At the plate, the Comets had eight hits. Grubb went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Ludwick was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Grubb started in the circle but received a no-decision. She allowed the first seven runs on 10 hits, while striking out six in five and two-thirds innings. Chamberlain was tagged with the loss, yielding the go-ahead run on three hits in the final inning and one-third.

In the nightcap, Olivet led 2-0 as Grubb and Geiger both hit solo home runs in the first and second inning, respectively. The Knights pushed across seven runs, including three unearned, in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Calvin added its final run in the fifth. The Comets scored their last run in the seventh on Smith's team-leading fifth home run.

For the game, Olivet was held to five hits – the three solo homers, a double by Reed and a single by senior Sydney Tharp. Chamberlain also suffered the pitching loss in this game after allowing all eight runs (five earned) on 12 hits, with four strikeouts.

After the doubleheader, the Comets recognized its two seniors – Tharp and Wood – who played in their final collegiate softball game.

NOTES: Grubb is tied with Kacey Darling (2006-09) and Lauren Lenard (2011-14) for first all-time at Olivet in RBI with 76. She is already the career leader for doubles (33) and is top ten in several other offensive statistical categories, including hits (second, 131), batting average (third, .396), slugging percentage (seventh, .544) and runs scored (fifth, 70). In the circle, Grubb will enter her senior season with 373 career strikeouts, which is second all-time behind Jessica Davenport's record of 445 punch outs. She also needs only six pitching victories to become the career leader. Junior Kelsey Scheenks' 26 career sacrifice hits is second-best in school history and only one shy of tying Shelly Buzycki (1996-98) for first.

Smith tied the Olivet single-season record with 16 doubles. Also in the single-season record books, her .705 slugging percentage is third-best, five home runs tied for fourth-best, 74 total bases is fifth-best, .410 batting average is eighth, and 28 runs scored is tied for eighth. Geiger broke the single-season record after getting hit by a pitch six times. After only two seasons at Olivet, she is also the career leader already with 11 hit by pitches.