March 5, 2006

Box Score

Joplin, Mo. - Grand Valley continued to swing a hot bat in its second game of the day as the Lakers pounded out 22 hits en route to a 21-13 victory. The win improves the Lakers record to 5-1 and 3-0 on their spring trip. Jeff Sinicki picked up the win striking out six in five innings of work. RF Nick Sandy was one of four Lakers with three hits. Sandy drove in five runs and scored three times on the afternoon. Grand Valley will take on Missouri Southern again tomorrow at 1 pm CT.

Upper Iowa opened up the scoring with a RBI double in the top half of the first to gain a quick 1-0 advantage. The lead did not last long though, as Grand Valley scored four in the second and four in the third to gain a seven run lead (8-1).

The Lakers batted around in the second inning using two walks and five singles. DH Brandon Bard started out the rally by drawing a walk and stealing second. LF Drew Wippich drove Bard in from second on a RBI single through the right side. 3B Lee VanStreain followed with a single of his own to move Wippich to third. Sandy, CF Jeff Carrero, and SS Dan Skirka rattled off three consecutive RBI singles to increase the Laker lead to three (4-1).

Bard led off the four run third with a single to center field and scored on a fielder's choice hit by VanStreain. Sandy added a RBI single for the second run of the inning and Skirka drove in the third run while grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. 2B Spud McKenzie walked and performed a perfect steal of second and proceeded to get into a run down to score Sandy from third for the fourth and final run.

Grand Valley State tallied its second eight run inning of the day in the fifth thanks to a two run homer by McKenzie. C Nick Smith made it back-to-back homers as he crushed one over the right center field fence. Four straight singles from Bard, Wippich, VanStreain, and Sandy led to three more runs before Carrero came to the plate. Carrero connected on a pitch and sent it down the rigth field line for the Lakers third home run of the inning. The eight run inning pushed the lead to 15 (19-4).

Smith scored his third run of the ball game when he advanced from third on a wild pitch after reaching base on a single. VanStreain gave the Lakers a 21-4 lead with a RBI double later in the inning.

Upper Iowa scratched back in the eighth and ninth when the game was out of reach. The Peacocks cut the final margin to eight with a seven run eighth and two run ninth.

The seven, eight, and nine batters went 9-15 with nine runs scored and nine RBI on the day as the Lakers pounded out 22 hits. Grand Valley will take on Missouri Southern again tomorrow Monday, March 6 at 1 pm CT.