March 15, 2009

Box Score

Chillicothe, Ohio - No. 2 Grand Valley State claimed a pair of non-conference shutouts Sunday afternoon and upped its winning streak to eight games. The Lakers opened the day with a 3-0 win over Findlay, followed by a 6-0 win over Lake Erie College. GVSU improves to 16-2 on the year and will open GLIAC play Wednesday versus Findlay. The twinbill is scheduled to be at Grand Valley State beginning at 1 p.m. Stay tuned the GVSULakers.com for more information on the site and time of the games.

In game one, senior Andre Benjamin pitched the first four innings and gave up just three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. As it was predetermined that Benjamin would only go four innings, he was given credit for the win, advancing his record to 4-0 on the year. Senior Ben Knuth pitched the final five innings and earned a save by striking out eight and allowing only one hit and no walks.

Knuth also performed well at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run batted in and another scored. As a team, the Lakers scored three runs on seven hits while giving up no runs and four hits.

Grand Valley State jumped on top with a run in the top of the first inning. Junior Kyle Gendron reached on an error and then went to second base when senior Dan Anstedt was hit by a pitch. Knuth's two-out single scored Gendron and put GVSU ahead 1-0. The score stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when Knuth scored on a single by freshman Cody Grice. The final run of the game came in the top of the eighth when junior Cory Maguire singled home Anstedt.

In game two, sophomore Danny Richard (3-0) shut down the Lake Erie offense through seven innings. He allowed only four hits and struck out four for his third consecutive start with no earned runs allowed. Freshman Cory Rademacher and senior David Bowman eached pitched a perfect inning to seal the win.

Maguire had a strong outing at the plate, as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Senior Josh Hillyard hit 2-of-4 with three runs scored. The Lakers tallied 10 hits total to score their six runs.

Neither team got onto the scoreboard until freshman Jared Cowan singled in Maguire in the fourth inning. Junior Brad Raj's sacrifice fly in the fifth made the score 2-0. A three-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh put Grand Valley State up by five. Hillyard singled to start the frame followed by a walk issued to senior Casey Robrahn. Maguire singled to load the bases and a ground out by Raj plated the first run. Sophomore Torre Aguirre reached on an error later in the inning and both Maguire and Robrahn scored. The final run of the game came on an RBI-single by Maguire.