BY Ross Weener

Sports Editor

Finishing in second place in the MIAA baseball race means absolutely nothing. It means that along with the other six teams below you, you are not going to the NCAA regional. So going into this weekend's huge baseball series with Alma College, the Knights need to step it up.

They control their own destiny as they currently sit in second place in the MIAA with a 11-1 mark, trailing Hope who has garnered a 9-0 league mark.

This weekend's three game set with third place Alma and a three game series with first place Hope scheduled for May 7-8 is all that stand between Calvin and the end of the MIAA season.

Calvin put itself into this position by dropping a nail-bitter to Kalamazoo College last Friday evening by a score of 2-1. The Knights could not find the run support to back up senior ace Mike Ott, who picked up the tough luck loss. Ott went the distance giving up two earned runs and scattering eight hits over nine innings work. He also struck out 11 batters while only walking four.

The Knights could only muster one run on eight hits and missed golden opportunities with runners in scoring position, but could not find the timely hitting. Calvin did rebound in the next two games picking up victories by scores of 6-0 and 4-3.

Currently 4-5 in league play Alma sits as the X-factor in the remaining league contests. It has the chance to play spoiler for both Hope and Calvin as it will travel to play both teams in their home parks. The Scots sport a very tough 1-2 pitching combo of juniors Nick Duflo and Chris Krebs.

Duflo has a 1-2 record in the MIAA with a slim 1.29 ERA in league contest. He has given up 15 runs, while only three of them have been earned. Krebs, currently undefeated in MIAA play (3-0), has a 2.05 ERA in 22 innings of work. He has struck out 16 and only walked four batters.

Handling the offensive role for the Scots are sophomore Kevin Vermeersch and senior Ben Wright. Vermeersch enters this weekend's series totting a .480 batting average with 12 hits and four RBI's. Wright, who is hitting .367 is the team leader in RBI's with six and an on-base percentage on .519.

Calvin will enter this series with a team batting average of .326 in league play. The Knights have four men with batting averages above .400 in league play as Ben Dykhouse(.441), Arie Eppinga(.439), Tim Hansen(.421) and Josh Vriesman(.400) lead Calvin in hitting.

This weekend's series with Alma should prove to be a dandy, and if you can't make the trip out to Klenk park in Alma, MI then be sure to fire up your computers.

The games will be broadcasted via the Internet all weekend as the Friday game scheduled to start at 4 PM will go on at 3:55 PM, and the Saturday doubleheader will go on at 11:55 AM.