April 21, 2010
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Tiffin, Ohio - #14 Grand Valley State split a doubleheader with Tiffin today, taking game one 14-7, but dropping game two by a score of 7-6. The story of the day was Kyle Gendron, who was a perfect 8-for-8 in the doubleheader with four runs, five RBI, a double, and a homerun.
Game one started off just like so many have this year. with Cody Grice manufacturing runs seemingly all on his own. Grice led the game off by being hit by a pitch, then advanced to second and to third on wild pitches before being driven in by a Brian Robinson single to give the Lakers an early lead. After Gendron singled and Cory Maguire moved both runners over on a groundout, Andrew Trepel hit a single to drive in another run, and Steve Anderson followed him with a one-out two-RBI single to score both Robinson and Gendron, giving Grand Valley State an early 4-0 lead.
Tiffin responded in the bottom half of the first, as the first three hitters they sent to the plate reached base, and a run came in when Devin Rudolph hit into a double-play with the bases loaded. The Dragons would get another run on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half at 4-2 after one inning of play.
In the second inning, the Lakers led off the frame with a Grice double, and after he was moved to third, Gendron singled him home to push the lead back out to 5-2. Tiffin again responded in the bottom of the second, with Colin Lowe leading off the inning with a homerun and adding another run off a Jason Bailey single to make it a 5-4 game after two innings.
The Lakers were able to get away from Tiffin in the top of the fourth inning, as a Chris Rudenga single, Grice hit by pitch, and Robinson single loaded the bases with nobody out. After Gendron was also hit by a pitch to bring one run in, Maguire smacked his seventh homerun of the year, a grand slam, to put the Lakers up 10-4.
The Dragons chipped away in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, scoring one run in each frame to make it 10-6, before Anderson came to the plate and hit his seventh homerun of the year, a solo shot, in the top of the sixth to make it an 11-6 game. Tiffin got another run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-7, but the Lakers put the game away in the top of the seventh, as a Robinson two-RBI double and a Gendron one-RBI single put three more on the board, making it a 14-7 lead for Grand Valley State, a lead that Tiffin couldn't respond to.
The Laker offense had their second consecutive game with 19 hits, matching their output from Sunday's nine-inning game against Ashland. Gendron finished the game 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while Anderson and Robinson each had three hits and three RBI. Grice was 3-for-3 with four runs, as Maguire had four RBI and Rudenga was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Joe Jablonski (6-1) got the win on the mound, going five innings and surrendering 10 hits and six runs while striking out three. Kyle Schepel pitched the remaining two innings, allowing three hits, one run, and one walk while striking out two.
In game two, the roles were reversed in the first inning, with the Lakers putting up two runs in the top of the frame courtesy of a Maguire single and Trepel double that each scored one, and Tiffin putting up four runs in the bottom half of the first inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Grand Valley State cut it to a one-run game with a Grice sacrifice fly that scored Torre Aguirre in the top of the second to make it a 4-3 game. In the top of the fifth, the Lakers took the lead with a two-run homerun by Gendron that put Grand Valley State up 5-4. Again though, Tiffin responded, as Ty Blake hit a three-run bomb in the bottom half of the fifth to take the lead back, 7-5.
The Lakers tried to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh inning, as Robinson drew a one-out walk and was pinch-ran for by Cory Phillips. Gendron hit a double that scored Phillips all the way from first to make it a 7-6 game, and Maguire followed that up with a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Trepel hit into a fielder's choice that advanced Gendron to third, but got Maguire thrown out at second, placing runners on the corners with two out. Anderson would end the game with a fielder's choice that saw Trepel get thrown out at second, thwarting the Laker comeback effort to give the Dragons a 7-6 win.
Gendron was 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBI in the second game, including a homerun. Maguire and Trepel each had two hits and one RBI, while Grice also had an RBI in the game. Starter Daniel Holcomb pitched only one inning, allowing four hits and four runs, but Matt Cade (4-1) took the loss in relief, the first loss of his career at Grand Valley State. Cade pitched 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, three runs, and a walk while striking out four.
The split makes #14 Grand Valley State 29-11 overall on the season with a 19-8 mark in GLIAC play, while Tiffin is now 18-26 overall, 14-13 in the GLIAC. The Lakers will travel to University Center, Mich. this weekend to take on rival Saginaw Valley State (17-17, 13-11 GLIAC) for doubleheaders on both Saturday (Apr. 24) and Sunday (Apr. 25). Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
