March 17, 2010

Box Score

Rensselaer, Ind. - Grand Valley State went on the road on Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 17) and split a doubleheader with Saint Joseph's, winning game one by a 6-1 score before dropping an 8-3 decision in the nightcap. It is the Lakers' first twinbill outside of Florida, when GVSU went 6-6 at the Rebel Spring Games last week.

In the opener, the Lakers brought their offense, knocking out 15 base hits and starting early with a solo homer from freshman designated hitter Katie Martin in the top of the first inning. It was Martin's fourth roundtripper of the young season. Saint Joseph's tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a run off of GVSU's Andrea Nicholson, but the Lakers would respond in the top of the fifth inning.

Senior Lesley Bates led off the frame with a single and moved to second base with two outs. She was pushed home on an RBI single from freshman Kayleigh Bertram, who was then herself driven in on a two-run home run from senior Stephanee Schrader to up the GVSU lead to 4-1. Freshman Maggie Kopas led off the sixth inning with a single, then scored a few batters later on a run-scoring infield single from freshman Nellie Kosola. Bates, who doubled earlier in the inning, later scored on a wild pitch for the game's final run, giving Nicholson more than enough run support.

The righthander gave up one run on five hits in a complete game victory. Nicholson walked one batter, while striking out seven in improving to 3-2 on the season. Seven different Lakers recorded two hits each, while Schrader added a double to her homer and two RBI. Senior Breanne Kronberg notched a double, while Bates was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Martin, Bertram, Kosola, Kopas, and sophomore Carli Raisutis all picked up two hits.

Game two saw the Pumas jump ahead early, scoring one run in the first inning and three more in the second to lead 4-1. The score stayed that way until the fifth frame, when Saint Joseph's tacked on another run before blowing the game open with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Freshman Emily Holt produced an RBI double in the second inning, which scored Becky Plummer to tie the game at 1-1 before SJC notched three runs in its half of the inning. Bertram and Kronberg recorded consecutive run-scoring singles in the seventh inning, scoring Kosola and Martin, respectively. Four GVSU players had multi-hit contests, including Martin, Bertram, Kronberg, and Plummer. Kosola and Kronberg each had a two-base hit in the loss. Senior Lauren Rohan was touched up for four earned runs on six hits in 3.2 innings of work. She falls to 1-2 on the year, as Rohan walked three batters and struck out two Pumas. Martin relieved Rohan and gave up four runs in 2.1 innings on the hill.

The Lakers head to the Urbana University Tournament this weekend (Mar. 20-21), as they will face off with Urbana and Lake Superior State on both days.