March 13, 2010
Box Score
Lakeland, Fla. - #5 Grand Valley State split a doubleheader with Augustana after two days of cancelled games due to weather. The Lakers dropped game one by a score of 11-2 before triumphing for a 13-4 victory in the nightcap behind the arm of Matt Cade. Cade had 11 strikeouts in only five innings of work, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
In game one, the Lakers got off to a good start as Cody Grice led the game off with a homerun to left field, but not much else went right for the Lakers after that.
After a scoreless first inning from Brad Raj on the mound, he ran into trouble in the second inning, giving up a 2-run homer to give Augustana a 2-1 lead, and then running the count to 3-0 on the next batter before he was removed from the game due to injury. Kevin Schultz came in and allowed two more runs before getting out of the second inning, and Augustana led 4-1.
After Augustana put up three more runs in the third inning to make it a 7-1 game, GVSU responded with a Jay Tharrett RBI single that brought Paul Young in, cutting the deficit to five at 7-2.
That would be all for the Laker offense, however, as Augustana would put up another four runs in the top of the fifth inning to make it an 11-2 game. Grand Valley State would only get one more hit in the game, a single by Kyle Gendron in the seventh inning, but could not drive any more runs in.
Raj took the loss for Grand Valley State in his one inning of work, making his record 1-1 on the year. Grice was 2-for-4 with a homerun in the game, and Tharrett was 1-for-2 with an RBI. The Laker pitching staff as a whole struck out 12 batters in the game.
In game two, both the Laker pitching and hitting got turned around, as Cade took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and got the first two outs before surrendering a sharp single to right field and the GVSU offense got into double digit runs.
In the first inning, the Laker offense got on the board in a big way. Grice led the game off with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball. After a Gendron double and Cory Maguire walk, Torre Aguirre went deep for his first homerun of the season to give GV a 4-0 lead. Chris Rudenga drove in another run later in the inning as he brought in Jared Cowan to make it a 5-0 game.
The Grand Valley State offense continued their barrage of hits in the third inning as a Gendron double down the left field line cleared the bases which were full of Lakers, making it an 8-0 Grand Valley State lead. A Maguire single to right center field then brought Gendron in, giving the Lakers a 9-0 lead. A Brian Robinson homerun to left field in the top of the fourth inning made it an even 10 for the Lakers.
They continued the offense in the top of the sixth inning, as a Dan Ponegalek double to left center field brought Robinson in to score, and a Rudenga double down the right field line scored two more to make it a 13-0 game.
Augustana scored three in the bottom of the sixth to respond, scoring one on an error, one on a double to left center field, and a single to right field to make it a 13-3 game. Augustana would add one more in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on a passed ball to make it a 13-4 game before Cory Rademacher would shut the door, giving the Lakers a 13-4 victory.
Cade moved to 3-0 on the season with five innings pitched, one hit and four walks allowed, and 11 batters struck out. Leading the offense was Cowan who went 3-for-3 with two runs, as well as Ponegalek who went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI and Gendron was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. Rudenga was 2-for-3 with one run and three RBI, and Aguirre was 1-for-5 with a run and three RBI off his homerun. Robinson was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, including his homerun.
The Lakers with the split move to 7-3 on the season, and have one more game remaining on their spring trip as they take on Nebraska-Omaha tomorrow (Mar. 14) at 10 a.m. at the Lake Myrtle Main field.
