March 24, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - #12 Grand Valley State University picked up a couple of huge wins in the GLIAC race today, downing Ashland 6-0 and 4-3, the second game being in extra innings. A Joe Jablonski complete game shutout in game one nailed down a victory for the Lakers, while a Cory Phillips sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth won game two for Grand Valley State.

In game one, the Lakers went up early courtesy of a Zach Laupp sacrifice fly which scored Andrew Trepel who had doubled earlier in the inning. Cody Grice then singled to the right field gap a couple hitters later to score Paul Young, and Phillips scored on a wild pitch with two outs to put Grand Valley State up 3-0.

Grice struck again in the bottom of the fifth, leading off the inning with a triple to the wall in the right field gap, and Brian Robinson singled through the right side to bring Grice in, making it a 4-0 game. The Lakers added two more in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Trepel singled to left field and was brought in on a Young triple to right-center. Laupp then followed that up with a single to center field that scored Young, making it a 6-0 lead and giving the Lakers the cushion they would need to take the victory.

Jablonski was great on the mound again, pitching a complete game three-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks, lowering his season ERA to 0.62. Grice was 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI in the game, while Trepel was 2-for-2 with two runs and Young was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.

In game two, the Lakers faced a little more adversity, falling behind early to Ashland. In the top of the first inning, a walk and catcher's interference call put men on first and second with nobody out, and a failed pickoff attempt by starting pitcher Cory Rademacher would bring the leadoff hitter Josh Kirsten in to score. Ashland added another run on the ensuing play, as Ben Minard hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 2-0.

Grand Valley State responded in the bottom of the first, as Grice took a full-count pitch over the center fielder's head for a triple, and then came in to score when the relay throw got away from the second baseman in shallow center field. The Lakers cut the lead to 2-1, but Ashland got that run back quickly in the top of the second, as a walk and single to the left field gap brought John Kuzio around to score to put Ashland back up by two.

The Lakers started mounting their final comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Young doubled down the left field line with one out, and was brought in on a Dan Ponegalek single through the left side a couple batters later to make it a 3-2 game. Grand Valley State chipped away some more in the bottom of the seventh, as pinch hitter Robinson came in and singled to lead off the inning. Phillips then pinch-ran for Robinson and advanced to second on a Trepel sacrifice bunt. A Young single up the middle with one out brought Phillips in to tie the game on the next batter. The Lakers threatened to end it later on the inning as well, but a Ponegalek double play ball ended the exchange as we went to extra innings for the second day in a row.

In the top of the eighth, Ashland put a runner on via a walk with one out, but Rademacher got out of it with a double play ball against Minard. The Lakers capitalized on the big defensive play in the bottom half of the eighth inning, as a Grice single put the leadoff man on, and a Chris Rudenga sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the pitcher, Minard, putting runners at first and second. A Kyle Gendron sacrifice moved the runners to second and third, and following an intentional walk to Cory Maguire, Phillips came up with a sacrifice fly down the right field line to score Grice, who counted as the game-winning run for the second straight extra inning game.

Rademacher got the win for the Lakers to move to 2-0 on the season, as he pitched eight innings and allowed four hits, three runs (none earned), and four walks while striking out six. Young led the way at the plate in game two, going 2-for-3 with a run and RBI while Ponegalek and Phillips chipped in an RBI each as well. Jared Cowan was 2-for-3 in the game, and Grice was 2-for-4 with two runs, including the game winner.

Grand Valley State moved to 16-3 overall with an 8-0 mark in GLIAC play with the sweep, and Ashland fell to 12-9 with a 4-3 GLIAC record. Grand Valley State continues GLIAC play on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader against Tiffin.