April 28, 2009

Box Score

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Steve Anderson came on as a pinch hitter and left as a hero. The freshman finished a Grand Valley State sweep of Lewis with a walkoff two-run homer in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Lakers took game one by a 9-4 score and won 3-1 in eight innings after Anderson's hit in game two.

The Lakers (35-11-1) got solid pitching from senior Ben Knuth and junior Matt Cade in the wins. Junior Brad Raj went 6-for-8 on the day, including three runs batted in and another three scored. Freshman Cody Grice and Raj both homered in game one, followed by Anderson in game two.

Knuth started game one and went six strong innings, advancing his record to 7-2 by allowing just one run and three hits while striking out eight. The Laekrs scored nine runs on 15 hits, led by Raj, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs.

GVSU started the game strong, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Cory Maguire plated Raj for the first run, followed by an RBI-single by Anderson to put the Lakers up 2-0. The Flyers got one back in the top of the second with what would be their only run off Knuth, but three GVSU runs in the third made it 5-1. Maguire started the three-run inning when he scored on an error, and then Grice's two-run shot finished the scoring.

The Lakers tacked on another four runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Raj's home run with two runners on base made it 8-1 and then sophomore Torre Aguirre finished the Laker scoring with an RBI-double to right field. Lewis scored three runs on sophomore Josh Johnson in the top of the seventh to make the final score 9-4.

Cade threw all eight innings in game two, striking out six and allowing just one run, unearned, on five hits. Raj went 3-for-4 in the second consecutive game, and Anderson drove in the winning runs with his walkoff.

The teams traded unearned runs to make the score 1-1 through seven innings. Grand Valley State scored its run in the bottom of the second when senior Casey Robrahn went home on a throwing error by the shortstop. That score held up until the sixth inning, when the Flyers scored an unearned run of their own. Anderson ended it with his pinch-hit moonshot with Raj on second base in the eighth inning.