GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.-- After dropping a pitcher's duel in game one, the Trine bats awakened in game two to earn the split with MIAA-foe Calvin Saturday afternoon at Calvin Field.
Cory Laster threw a one-hitter for the Knights in a 2-0 victory in game one, but the Thunder bats awakened in the nightcap to earn the 11-7 victory. Every Trine starter recorded at least one hit in the game two victory. Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) had three hits and knocked in three runs, while Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) had three hits and two RBI's for Trine. Adam Sullivan (Fort Wayne, Ind./Elmhurst) extended his hitting-streak to five with a hit in each game. Grant Van Putten drove in three runs to pace Calvin offensively. The Thunder are 13-23 overall and 8-16 in the MIAA. Calvin is 21-13 overall and 15-9 in league play.
Game One: Calvin 2, Trine 0
Paced by Laster, the Knights got the better end of the game one pitcher's duel.
Laster allowed just two basrunners on one hit and one walk to improve to 5-2 on the season. He struck out two, and threw just 80 pitches.
Vinny Slobodecki (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) nearly matched Laster's effort. Neither of the runs the freshman allowed were earned. He struck out one in six innings of work.
Jalen Bouma scored the Knights' first run in the bottom of the second when he raced home on an infield RBI-single by Travis Kraai. A sacrifice fly by Van Putten accounted for Calvin's other run in the bottom of the fifth.
Sullivan had the lone hit in the game for the Thunder.
Game Two: Trine 11, Calvin 7
The Thunder bats struck early and often as the team built a 10-run lead that the Knights couldn't come back from.
Each team scored in their half of the first. An RBI-single by Thorn accounted for Trine's run, while a Bouma RBI-single got Calvin on the board.
The floodgates opened in the second as the Thunder scored seven runs. Drew Burgess (Middlebury, Ind./Northridge) scored on a wild pitch to put Trine up for good. RBI-singles by Sullivan and Baer kept the line moving. A bases-loaded walk drawn by Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) forced in another run. Andrew DeGood (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) capped off the scoring in the inning, lacing a two-run double to right-center.
Trine kept the pressure on in the third. Baer knocked in two more runs with a double to right. Thorn added an RBI-single later in the inning.
The Knights chipped away to try to get back in the game with three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and one in the seventh, but Trine was able to hold on for the victory. Van Putten knocked in two runs in game two for the Knights.
Jeremy Spalding (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Central Catholic) picked up the win in a four-inning outing. Jake Weimer (Pittsboro, Ind./Brownsburg) came on in the seventh to work out of a bases-loaded, one out jam to earn his second save of the season.
Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) added two hits for Trine.
The Thunder wrap up the season next weekend with a series against Kalamazoo. The series opens Friday at Kalamazoo, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
