Rockford, Mich. — Gearing up for the last weekend of the regular season, the Aquinas baseball team lost a non-conference tune-up game against Calvin on Tuesday (Apr. 25) at the Meijer Sports Complex.
The NCAA Division III in-city foe used a five-run fourth inning to pull away for a 8-4 road victory to move back to .500 on the season at 16-16 overall.
The Saints dropped to 26-20 overall and had a five-game win streak snapped.
Both teams started strong by scoring runs in the opening frame. Matt Raymond provided an RBI single for the Knights and
Mark Binkowski answered with his own RBI single through the left side to bring in
Dane Smitz.
After two scoreless innings, Calvin broke the game open in the fourth with a bases loaded walk, another RBI single, an RBI groundout and a two-run single by Raymond.
The Knights extended their lead with two more runs in the fifth inning, as Ryan Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Patrick Gillen flew out to right field for an RBI sacrifice fly.
Down 8-1, Aquinas could only muster up three more runs. Smitz singled through the right side to plate pinch runner
Owen Graves in the fifth and then catcher Aiden Schmuckal drove in two more runs on a hit back up the middle that the center fielder couldn't corral right away.
Neither team scored in the final three innings, as the Knights claimed a 8-4 win in two hours and 55 minutes.
The Saints used six different pitches with nobody going more than two innings. Calvin outhit AQ 11-7 and left more men on base (11-9). Neither team committed an error in the field. Smitz and
Ryan Gillings both had two hits for AQ.
Aquinas closes out the regular season this weekend at home against UNOH. The two doubleheaders are currently scheduled to be played on Saturday (Apr. 29) and Sunday (Apr. 30). There is a possibility Sunday's games could be moved to Friday (Apr. 28) due to weather concerns. Stay tuned to AQSaints.com for further updates.
The Saints currently occupy the No. 5 spot in the WHAC standings with the Top 6 teams advancing to the conference tournament. Behind the Saints (16-10 WHAC) are Lawrence Tech (15-10), Cleary (16-11) and Lourdes (15-13).
AQ controls its own destiny if they win out against the No. 3 UNOH Racers (19-7). The Saints are looking to reach the WHAC Tournament for the first time since the 2015 season.
