March 8, 2006

Box Score

Joplin, Mo. - Grand Valley State lost the first contest of its spring break trip by a 16-5 margin Wednesday morning against Central Arkansas in Joplin, Mo. The Lakers fell behind early and were unable to climb back into the game as they fell to 6-2 on the year. C Nick Smith went 2-3 with two home runs and three RBI on the day. GVSU will take on host Missouri Southern tomorrow (Mar. 9) at 4 pm CT.

Central Arkansas jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first when the Bears leadoff hitter hit a triple to center field and scored on a RBI single. UCA added another run on a fielder's choice before starter Vince Rizzi forced RF Chris Houk into a groundout and sat the next batter down on strikes. The Bears tacked on two more runs in the top of the second to take a four run lead.

C Nick Smith tried to singlehandedly get the Lakers back in the game with a solo homer that was crushed to dead center and easily cleared the fence 415 feet away. Rizzi responded by retiring Central Arkansas in order in the top of the third. The Bears and Lakers traded solo shots in the fourth when the Bears' SS Jonathan Ashworth hit a homer to left and Grand Valley's DH Brandon Bard followed suit in the bottom half.

The three run disadvantage would be as close as the Lakers would get in the game as Central Arkansas added three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Smith hit his second home run of the day in the bottom of the sixth when he drove a Brandon Dunn pitch to the opposite field for a two run homer.

Grand Valley and Central Arkansas once again traded runs in the seventh with the Bears scoring on a RBI single and the Lakers using a RF Drew Wippich single and a CF Jeff Carrero double to score their run. The Lakers cut the margin to seven (12-5) with the RBI double, but were unable to score in the final two innings. Central Arkansas tacked on four runs in the ninth for the final score.

The Lakers were held to eight hits, their second lowest for the season, as only five batters tallied a hit. 3B Aaron Melucci and Bard each went 2-4, while Wippich finished 1-4 with a run scored. Smith upped his slugging percentage to 1.167 for the season, going 2-3 with two home runs, two runs scored, and three RBI.

The Lakers will take on host Missouri Southern tomorrow at 4 pm CT.