March 18, 2009

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State used solid pitching and a five-run sixth inning in the opening game to earn a doubleheader sweep of Saint Joseph's on Wednesday (March 18) in the team's home opener. The Lakers scored the game's final six runs to prevail in the opener, 8-3, and held the Pumas to just one hit in the 6-1 nightcap.

The victories are GVSU's seventh and eighth consecutive wins, as the Lakers improve to 14-5 on the year. With the pair of losses, Saint Joseph's falls to 10-8 overall.

It did not take long for Grand Valley State to get started, scoring two runs in the home half of the first inning. The Lakers scored a pair of runs on just one hit, a run-scoring single from senior third baseman Becky Rudenga, which made the score 2-0. Saint Joseph's responded two innings later with a two-run blast off of the bat of freshman catcher Brittnie Boerema to tie up the game.

Boerema struck again in the fifth inning, doubling to center field with two outs. Allison Adank pinch ran for Boerema and crossed the plate on Rachel Weaver's single up the middle to give the Pumas a 3-2 advantage. The Lakers answered in the bottom half of the frame, as designated hitter Stephanee Schrader's RBI double scored pinch runner Amanda Rumsey to tie the game. Rumsey was running for junior catcher Breanne Kronberg, who doubled down the right field line before Schrader's at-bat.

GVSU then put five runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth and centerfielder Tina Briggs' bloop single down the line stayed fair, scoring catcher Carli Raisutis to give the Lakers a 4-3 lead. After an infield RBI single from second baseman Maggie Kerrigan, shortstop Nichole Woityra took all doubt out of the game with a three-run homer to left field, advancing the Laker lead to 8-3. It was Woityra's first round-tripper of the season.

That would be enough for senior pitcher Lori Andjelich, who was named earlier in the day as the GLIAC Pitcher of the Week. Andjelich (8-3) struggled a bit with her control, walking seven batters, but allowed just three runs on five hits. She struck out five batters in the complete-game effort. SJC pitcher Sara Somogyi recorded just her second loss of the season, falling to 8-2. No Laker batter had more than one hit or one run in the game, as eight different players scored a run for GVSU.

In game two, the teams were scoreless until the third inning. Saint Joseph's got on the board on an RBI groundout with the bases loaded and tallied the game's first run without a hit to that point of the contest. GVSU answered with three consecutive singles from Kerrigan, Woityra, and Kronberg in the bottom of the third to tie the game, as Kerrigan scored on Kronberg's base hit.

The Lakers added four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Rudenga walked and was pushed to third on a double from junior Lesley Bates. Left fielder Karen Walters followed with a double to left center, scoring both Rudenga and Bates. Walters later scored on a sacrifice fly and Briggs, who singled, scored on Kronberg's RBI single to make the score 5-1. Schrader added a run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning for the game's last tally, as Woityra scored the last Laker run.

It was more than enough for junior Lauren Rohan, who toed the rubber for GVSU. She tossed a complete-game one-hitter, allowing five walks and striking out four batters. Rohan received 10 groundball outs to improve to 4-1 on the season.

Bates led the attack with a 3-for-3 game, while Kronberg was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Woityra went 2-for-2 with a run scored, while Walters added a pair of runs batted in and scored once.

Grand Valley State heads to Olivet for a doubleheader on Friday afternoon (Mar. 20) at 3:00 p.m. before returning to Allendale for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference doubleheader with Lake Superior State on Saturday (Mar. 21).