May 7, 2006

Box Score

Ashland, Ohio - #4 Grand Valley State extended its winning streak to 20 games taking a doubleheader from #11 Ashland 10-6 in game one and 10-9 in nine innings for the game two win. Jeremy Dow tied the Laker single-season record for wins in a season throwing 5.1 innings in the game one victory. The Lakers battled back from an 8-4 deficit in game two and used a dramatic ninth inning home run from Nick Smith to win game two and sweep the Eagles. Grand Valley will now host the GLIAC Tournament beginning May 11 against the #4-seeded Wayne State Warriors.

Grand Valley jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings in game one and cruised to a 10-6 victory. RF Nick Sandy opened the second inning rally with a walk and moved to third as 1B Casey Robrahn continued his hot hitting with a single to center field. A passed ball allowed Sandy to score from third and Robrahn to move into scoring position. SS Dan Skirka finished out the scoring by ripping a RBI single in front of the left fielder.

CF Jeff Carrero kept things going in the third driving a one hop double over the left fielder's head against the wall. 3B Lee VanStreain then drilled a ball back to the pitcher who misplayed it putting runners on the corners. C Nick Smith stepped to the plate after 2B Spud McKenzie struck out swinging and drove a pitch to right field to score Carrero. Sandy then used his combination of power and speed to score two more runs with a triple. Robrahn tallied his second hit of the day with a RBI single to center field. Ashland was able to cut the lead in half pushing three runs across in the bottom of the third. 1B Casey Jirsa ripped a two RBI double to right center and DH John Hosgood tallied a RBI single to cut the lead to three (6-3).

The Lakers answered with another run in the fourth along with three more in the fifth. GVSU loaded the bases in the fourth inning but were only able to to score one run as McKenzie hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Skirka who reached on an error. Robrahn started off the three run fifth with a double down the left field line that hit at the bottom of the outfield wall. After a pair of walks to Skirka and LF Nate Secor, Carrero was hit by a pitch to score the Lakers first run of the inning. VanStreain came up with the big hit once again rapping a single to center field to score Skirka and Secor and give the Lakers a 10-3 lead.

Jeremy Dow scattered six hits over the first five innings to earn his 12th victory of the season. The win ties Dow with former Laker great and Ashland, Ohio native Matt Rafeld (2003-04) who won 12 games in 2004. Dow forced a fly out to start the bottom of the sixth before allowing a double to RF Bryan Thrasher and a walk to C Ray Frisbee signaling the end of the day for the Laker starter. Vince Rizzi entered the contest and allowed two hits and three runs in a third of an inning. Nate McCrory then entered the contest to get the final out of the sixth inning and end the Eagle threat. McCrory came back out in the seventh and set the Eagles down in order to finish the game.

Ashland scored early and often in game two as GVSU entered the contest planning on conserving their pitching staff. Rizzi started game two and found himself in trouble in the bottom of the first as the Eagles recorded three consecutive singles to start the game before scoring on a wild pitch. Hosgood grounded out to shortstop to push across the other Ashland run in the first. The Lakers cut the lead to one (2-1) in the third inning with a two out rally. Carrero started the rally with a double to center field before scoring on another VanStreain RBI single this time down the left field line. After McKenzie walked and a wild pitch, Sandy was unable to plate the Laker duo as he popped out to the catcher.

A Laker error in the third inning allowed Ashland to push two more runs across the plate with a two RBI single by CF Tyson Rowland. Ashland added two more runs in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and a RBI single to take a 6-1 lead. Grand Valley answered the Eagles two runs with three runs of its own in the top of the fifth. Skirka led the inning off with a single to left field and was followed by LF Pat Radde who walked. Carrero ripped a two run double down the left field line to score Skirka and Radde. VanStreain then tallied his second RBI single of the day as he drove in Carrero and cut the lead to two (6-4).

Ashland answered in the bottom of the fifth with another pair of runs on a RBI double by Jirsa and a RBI single by DH Justin Richards. As GVSU entered the top of the sixth trailing by four runs things looked bleak but the hot bats of the Lakers rattled off five runs as the first six batters reached base safely. Robrahn opened the inning by drawing a walk and moved to third as DH Chad Rohacs hit a double to left field. C Brandon Bard followed with a RBI single to right field to put runners on the corners for Skirka. The junior shortstop ripped the second consecutive RBI single to plate Rohacs and put runners on first and second. Radde then strolled to the plate and tallied a RBI double down the right field line to put another pair of runners in scoring position. Carrero then drove in his third and fourth runs of the game with a single to center field to give Grand Valley a 9-8 lead. The Eagles answered using the long ball to even the score at nine as LF David Waters homered over the right center field wall to tie the contest. Neither team could push across a run in the seventh inning as the game went into extra innings.

Grand Valley recorded two singles off reliever Josh Davidson in the eighth inning and put runners on the corners with two outs but were unable to come up with the clutch hit to take the lead. The ninth inning did not look to be the Lakers' inning either as Robrahn flew out and Rohacs went down on strikes. Smith who entered the game in the sixth as a defensive replacement, stepped to the plate and delivered the dramatic, eventual game winning home run to deep center field. Laker reliever Dave Bowman entered the game in the eighth inning and allowed just one hit over the final two innings while setting the Eagles down in order in the ninth for the Lakers 44th win of the season. Grand Valley improves to 44-8 overall and 28-3 in GLIAC play while Ashland falls to 42-14 overall and 23-9 in the conference.

#1-seeded Grand Valley State will take on #4-seeded Wayne State in the GLIAC Tournament while the #2 Eagles of Ashland will take on #3-seeded Mercyhurst Lakers. The tournament will open up play on May 11 at the Lakers Baseball Field in Allendale, Mich. Game times will be announced on www.gvsulakers.com early this week. Grand Valley has captured the past two GLIAC Tournament titles.