April 17, 2006

Box Score

Grand Rapids, Mich. - #15 Grand Valley State took down Grand Rapids foe Calvin 11-4 Monday afternoon and improved to 29-8 on the season. Junior Vince Rizzi picked up the win throwing four innings of relief, allowing an unearned run on just four hits. The Lakers remain on the road this week as they head to Hillsdale, Mich. to take on the Chargers in a mid-week doubleheader beginning at 2 pm on Wednesday, April 19.

The Lakers played a little small ball to get on the scoreboard early, taking a 2-0 lead after four innings. The next five innings would be a different story as GVSU would outscore Calvin 9-4. RF Nick Sandy started things off in the second drawing a walk and proceeded to steal second and move to third on a sacrifice bunt by DH Nick Smith. 1B Casey Robrahn extended his team-high hit streak to 17 with a RBI single down the left field line to plate Sandy and give the Lakers a 1-0 lead. 3B Lee VanStreain started the rally in the third with a single to left field and scored on a RBI double by 2B Spud McKenzie for the two run advantage.

Grand Valley tacked on three more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings with some timely hitting. A walk started things off again in the fifth as CF Jeff Carrero reached base, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by VanStreain and scored on the first of three consecutive RBI singles. Sandy tallied the first RBI single ripping a pitch back up the middle, stole second and was driven in by Smith. The Laker DH followed in Sandy's footsteps by swiping second to put himself in scoring position. Robrahn tallied his second RBI single of the game to give Grand Valley a 5-0 lead after four and a half. Calvin broke the shutout in the bottom half of the fifth capitalizing on a pair of Laker errors to cut the lead to four (5-1). After a pair of hit batsmen and a single by LF Nate Secor in the sixth, VanStreain hit into a fielder's choice to score SS Dan Skirka from third. Sandy rolled to the plate next with two outs and drove in his second and third runs of the game with a single to center field.

Calvin took advantage of another pair of Laker errors in the seventh pushing two runs across in the inning despite not recording a hit. The Lakers got a run back in the eighth as RF Scott Cain grounded out to the shortstop to drive in Carrero who singled and moved to third on an interference call and a stolen base. Calvin tallied its final run of the game in the eighth with back-to-back doubles. The Lakers continued to hit in the ninth driving in two more runs. 1B Chad Rohacs led things off with a single to right field and was followed by C Josh Hargreaves who drew a walk and the pair moved up a base on a wild pitch. Skirka grounded out to third, but was able to score Rohacs from third. LF Pat Radde followed with a RBI single up the middle to plate Hargreaves and give the Lakers their 13th double-digit run output of the season.

The win improves the Lakers record to a school-best 29-8. Rizzi improved to 3-3 on the season. Left-hander Cody Sharp started the game for the Lakers going two innings allowing just one hit. Rizzi followed with his four solid innings before being relieved by Alex Dawe who threw an inning allowing two unearned runs. Jeff Sinicki threw the eighth striking out one while allowing a run, Matt Middleton finished the game allowing one hit in the final frame.

Sandy paced the offense going 2-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. The pair of Laker first basemen (Robrahn and Rohacs) went a combined 4-5. Robrahn drove in two and Rohacs crossed the plate once.

The Lakers will travel to Hillsdale on Wednesday, April 19 in a GLIAC doubleheader beginning at 2 pm. GVSU will finish the week at Wayne State in a pair of weekend doubleheaders against the Warriors.