ANGOLA, Ind. – In a game with 23 combined runs, the Trine University baseball team came up on the wrong end of a 12-11 contest. The Thunder took an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but were unable to maintain the advantage and Calvin used a six-run eighth to take the win.
Trine falls to 13-18 and 4-9 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play. The Knights of Calvin are now 14-15 and an even 6-6 in league action.
Matt Weis and Robert Kortas put a pair of runners in scoring position thanks to a walk and double, and Joel Walton drove in the game's first run on a sacrifice fly. Calvin would answer in the top of the second thanks to three singles and a sacrifice fly of their own. Starting pitcher Josh Hoogewerf was able to work around early traffic to limit the damage in the inning.
Four runs came around to score for the home team in the bottom of the second thanks to four hits and a walk. Jackson O'Keefe drove in Dane DuBois with a double and two-out RBI hits by Weis and Kortas widened the gap to 5-1. A Matthew Martin RBI single, an error and a sacrifice fly by Kortas in the fourth inning made it 8-1 Thunder.
After cruising through the middle innings, Hoogewerf ran into some trouble in the fifth and sixth. The Knights would plate two runs in each frame to put the game at 8-5 in favor of Trine. Relief pitcher Jack Villarreal twirled a 1-2-3 seventh inning, but the wheels would come off in the top of the eighth. Calvin batted around and six came around to score in the inning to put the visitors ahead 11-8.
Daniel Rumberger led off the bottom half of the inning with a hit that saw the Thunder make a comeback. After Martin was hit by a pitch, Kortas dropped a single down the left field line to score one and pinch hitter Jack Kletzly drove in a second run in the inning with a single through the left side. Heading into the final inning, the score was 11-10 Calvin.
A walk and two hits, all with two outs in the inning, resulted in an insurance run for the Knights, but Kade Keele was able to retire the final batter of the ninth on strikes to leave two stranded in scoring position. This gave Trine a chance to tie the game up in their final at-bats.
Tyler Robinson reached base on a bunt single to start the inning and was moved to second base on a wild pitch. Avery Fulford delivered an RBI double to place the game's tying run in scoring position, but the Thunder were unable to climb out of the hole and fell 12-11.
Kortas led the team with four hits and three runs batted in. Martin, Weis and Rumberger each had two hits apiece and Martin came around to score three times. Hoogewerf had five punchouts in 5.1 innings and Cam Nagel (3-5) received the loss on the bump.
The series continues tomorrow afternoon at Calvin with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.