by Eva Dean Folkert

A complete second-game shutout thrown by pitcher Avery Slancik, plus a 3-for-3 performance at the plate by designated player Megan Soderbloom in the same game, lifted the Hope College softball team to a doubleheader split with Calvin University on Thursday.

After the Flying Dutch lost the first game, 4-2, they came back with a 7-0 victory in the nightcap.

The Game 1 loss was Hope's first MIAA defeat. The Flying Dutch are now 9-1 in the league and 18-8 overall. The Knights have a .500 MIAA record at 6-6 while being 19-7 overall. 

Photos of Avery Slancik, top, and Megan Soderbloom, bottom, by Steve Herppich

Slancik, a junior from Scotts, Michigan (Vicksburg HS) allowed just three hits and two walks in Game 2, while striking out three, never allowing the Knights to get anything going. It wasn't until the bottom of the seventh with two outs that Calvin got its first runner in scoring position.

The shutout was Slancik's third, and she now owns a 6-1 record and a 1.20 ERA.

"I'm very pleased to get that response from Avery (after losing the first game)," said head coach Mary VandeHoef. "For her to keep them off balance that whole second game was big. And to score in multiple innings and put some things together, make some adjustments from the first game offensively was good. Plus, we always want to see zero errors in that part of the stat line. So, to get (good play) in all three phases in that second game was big as a response when you lose the first one."

Soderbloom, a senior from Dowagiac, Michigan (Dowagiac HS), hit two doubles and a single plus drove in two runs, both in the three-run third inning. She is batting .380 on the season with a .671 slugging average.

"Sodie is having a great senior season both in the circle for us and at the plate," VandeHoef said. "She just has a great approach and a competitiveness that we love to see. She finds ways to get it done, makes really good adjustments at the plate and has bat speed that allows her to hit the ball hard and make some things happen. I'm just really happy to see her having a great senior season and putting things together."

Hope's three runs in the third inning came after two outs and two of its three runs in the sixth came before an out was made.

Senior Morgann Kanouse also produced two RBIs in the second game while senior Jo Cook went 2-for-4 at the plate. 

In the Game 1, the Flying Dutch were held scoreless until the fifth inning when sophomore second baseman Arinn King (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS) clobbered a two-run homer that scored Kanouse. It was her third home run of the season. King was the only Flying Dutch player to record more than one hit in the first game as she also had a single.

Soderbloom (6-3) took the pitching loss after giving up eight hits and four runs in four innings. Slancik came in to finish the last three innings of the game and allowed two hits. 

Hope is scheduled to travel to Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, for an MIAA doubleheader on Monday, April 26. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.