April 1, 2009

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ALLENDALE, Mich. - Junior Kyle Gendron and freshman Cody Grice both hit two home runs as Grand Valley State swept Hillsdale at the Laker Baseball Field on Wednesday. The No. 1 Lakers won game one 12-1 and took game two 10-4. Gendron and Grice each hit a homer in both games.

Grice went 6-for-8 (.750) on the day, including a 4-for-4 performance in game one. He also scored four runs and drove in three with two home runs. Gendron hit .429 in the two games, including three RBI and four runs scored. Senior Casey Robrahn became Grand Valley State's all-time hits leader with a double in the first game. Robrahn, who hit .571 on the day with three runs and three RBI, now has 242 hits in his illustrious career.

In game one, GVSU (26-3) scored 12 runs on 12 hits, while holding the Chargers to one run on three hits. Junior Brad Raj (2-1) threw five innings, giving up just three hits and striking out six. Junior Jared Knuth pitched the final two with no hits and one strikeout. Grice was 4-for-4 with three runs and an RBI, while Robrahn was 2-of-3 with two runs and an RBI.

The first run of the game came in the bottom of the third inning and it put GVSU up 1-0. Grice hit a two-out homer over the scoreboard in left-center field, his third of the season. In the fourth, the Lakers tacked on two more runs. With two outs, senior Ben Knuth reached on an error, followed by a walk by Robrahn. A single through the right side by freshman Steve Anderson plated Knuth and sent Robrahn to third. Anderson stole second and Robrahn went home on the throw, making the score 3-0 in favor of the Lakers.

Hillsdale got one back in the top of the fifth, but Grand Valley State scored two more in the bottom half of the frame. With Grice on base, Gendron homered to deep center field to put the Lakers up 5-1. GVSU finished up the game with seven runs in the bottom half of the sixth to close the scoring at 12-1. Knuth doubled to left-center and then Robrahn singled him home. Senior Matt Nickels singled to center field to plate Robrahn, and then Nickels scored on a passed ball. Senior Josh Hillyard brough Grice home on a single up the middle and then junior Cory Maguire doubled to right-center, scoring two more to close the game.

In game two, the Lakers scored 10 runs on 12 hits, led by a 2-for-4 performance with a run and two RBI by Grice. Robrahn went 2-of-4 with three runs and three RBI. Sophomore Joe Jablonski started the game and went five innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs. He struck out three and walked one. Redshirt freshman Cory Rademacher pitched the final two innings and gave up one run on four hits.

The Lakers scored in every inning during game two, starting off with single runs in each of the first three frames. Gendron homered in the first and freshman Jared Cowan plated Robrahn with a double to right field in the second. In the third, Grice hit a lead-off homer to make it 3-0 GVSU.

Hillsdale tied the game in the top of the fourth with three runs, but Grand Valley State scored two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. With two outs in the fourth, senior Dan Anstedt and Cowan both singled, followed by an RBI-single by senior Scott Cain and an RBI-single by Grice. In the fifth, Robrahn and Torre Aguirre both plated runs with doubles.

With the score 7-4, Grand Valley State finished with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Robrahn scored two more with a double to right field and then scored a run of his own on an error by the left fielder.