Pitching, defense boost Albion to sweep of Calvin
that clinches MIAA title, NCAA Tournament berth

» GAME ONE STATISTICS
» GAME TWO STATISTICS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Led by outstanding starting pitching performances by senior Steve Gordon (Plymouth/Salem) and junior David Seales (Alma/Alma), a scoreless relief appearance by first-year pitcher Pat Cavanaugh (Fenton/Powers Catholic), and a solid defensive effort, the Albion College baseball team swept a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association doubleheader from Calvin College by scores of 4-1 and 10-0 to seal the Britons' first league title since 1996 and its first NCAA Tournament trip since 1982.

Albion (25-14 overall, 14-4 MIAA) will have to wait until Sunday, May 16, for the NCAA Tournament selection call. Eight regional tournaments will be played May 20-23. The finals, with the eight regional winners, will be played at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis., May 28-June 1.

"We've had a great team effort all season long and nothing changed today," Albion's first-year head coach Scott Carden said. "We needed to have good pitching and defense today, and the fact that we scored first didn't hurt."

In game one, Gordon scattered a run, seven hits and a walk over 6-1/3 innings. Cavanaugh came on with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the seventh. The first batter Cavanaugh faced, Mike Aggen hit a smash that got through the left side of the Briton infield but Seales was playing so shallow in left field that the Knights decided to hold the lead runner at third base. Cavanaugh then retired the next two batters as Terry O'Neal struck out swinging and Josh Vriesman popped up to Albion senior third baseman Mike Cieszkowski (Howell/Hartland) to end the game.

Offensively, the teams played four scoreless innings until Albion broke through with a run in the top of the fifth and three more runs in the top of the sixth. In the fifth, a single by senior Mark Flancbaum (Orchard Lake/West Bloomfield) plated Seales. In the sixth, junior Chris Trott (Plymouth/Salem) scored on an error by Calvin's shortstop, sophomore Mike Pisha (Wixom/Walled Lake Central) lifted a sacrifice fly to score Cieszkowski, and Seales singled to drive in senior Matt Shook (Coldwater/Coldwater).

Albion College pitcher David Seales delivers a pitch en route to a no-hitter. Photograph by Jeff Febus, Calvin College sports information director.

In the nightcap, Seales threw the 23rd no-hitter in MIAA history (league games only) and the sixth by a Briton hurler. Albion's other no-hitters were thrown by Steve Guibord (1994), Mark Smith (1991), Mark Smith (1990), Bob Varner (1983), and Duncan Beagle (1970).

Seales walked four and hit a batter, but the Knights had trouble getting their aluminum bats on the ball. Calvin had scoring opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the third and fourth innings and stranding eight runners in the contest.

While Seales was holding Calvin scoreless, Albion's offense was racking up double figures in runs for the fourth time in league play this season. The Britons rapped 13 hits with two each from Flancbaum, junior Brian Sayers (Chelsea/Chelsea), and first-year athlete Tim Gough (Jackson/Jackson). Gough and sophomore Richard Engelmann (Grand Blanc/Flint Powers) drove in two runs apiece.

Updated May 07, 2004 by Albion College Sports Information