March 21, 2010

Box Score

Urbana, Ohio - Grand Valley State put together a 3-1 weekend at the Urbana Tournament on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 21) after defeating Lake Superior State in the opening game by a 5-2 score, then holding off Urbana 4-3 in the day's second game. GVSU won its final three games of the weekend and placed four players on the All-Tournament Team, led by most valuable pitcher Andrea Nicholson.

The Lakers move to 10-8 on the season after winning three of the four games over the weekend in Urbana, Ohio. Grand Valley State fell behind 2-0 in the first inning of the opening game on Sunday to Lake Superior State, as LSSU notched two runs off of GVSU starting pitcher, Lauren Rohan. It would be the only two runs the senior would allow on the day, as she tossed a complete game and improved to 2-2 on the year.

In the third inning, Grand Valley State would score twice on a two-run single from sophomore Carli Raisutis. GVSU would add another run in the fourth inning and tally the game's final run in the sixth frame. Senior outfielder Tina Briggs singled and was pushed to second base. Freshman Kayleigh Bertram then scored Briggs with an RBI single to give the Lakers a 5-2 advantage, which would be more than enough for Rohan. The victory was a complete team effort, as no GVSU player had more than one hit.

Urbana took a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat of the second game, but Grand Valley State responded with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Nellie Kosola led off with a bunt single and was pushed to third on a double to right center from freshman Katie Martin two batters later. Raisutis came up big again with a two-run single to right field, scoring both Kosola and Martin.

The Blue Knights tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the top of the second inning off of Nicholson. In the fourth inning, GVSU would regain the lead as Becky Plummer led off with a single to center field. She moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI single from Maggie Kerrigan. Grand Valley State added its fourth run of the game in the sixth inning, as senior Lesley Bates doubled to center field, driving in Plummer for a 4-2 Laker lead.

Urbana scored a run in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on third base before Nicholson got out of the jam and gave GVSU the win. She pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits and three runs (two earned). The tournament's most valuable pitcher, Nicholson struck out four batters and moves to 4-3 on the year. Raisutis, Plummer, and Bates each went 2-for-3 against Urbana, with Raisutis collecting two RBI and Plummer scoring two runs.

Along with Nicholson, the other Lakers on the All-Tournament Team were Kerrigan at shortstop, Martin at third base, and Bates in the outfield.

Grand Valley State is scheduled to play its first home doubleheader of the season on Monday (Mar. 22) against Olivet in a twinbill that starts at 3:00 p.m.