April 21, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - It was a complete tale of two games on Wednesday afternoon (April 21) in Allendale, as Grand Valley State and #17 Saginaw Valley State split a GLIAC doubleheader, both games ending early due to mercy rule. The Lakers captured an 8-0 victory in the opener before SVSU bounced back and won game two by a 9-1 score. Freshman Katie Martin tallied six RBI in game one, providing more than enough offense for senior Lauren Rohan, who threw a complete game three-hit shutout.

With the split, GVSU is now 22-16 overall and 10-8 in conference play, while Saginaw Valley State is 23-8 with a 10-6 league mark. Grand Valley State knew the Cardinals were vulnerable to an upset, as SVSU entered Wednesday's twinbill with losses in five of its last six games. After Rohan completely shut down the Cardinal offense in game one, Saginaw Valley State rebounded in game two for 11 base hits and two players with four RBI apiece.

Things could not have started better for head coach Doug Woods and the Lakers in game one. The first six GVSU batters of the game reached base and five of them crossed home plate to push the home team out to an impressive 5-0 lead after one inning. Center fielder Nellie Kosola led off the bottom of the first with a single down the right field line, which was followed by a perfect bunt from second baseman Kayleigh Bertram. The Cardinal defense was prepared for the bunt, but Bertram put it between the pitcher and where the second baseman normally plays. However, the second baseman was already on her way to cover first base and Bertram's bunt nearly rolled all the way to the outfield grass.

Next up was freshman slugger Katie Martin. She crushed an Amanda Astor offering over the wall in right center field for an opposite field homer, putting the Lakers up, 3-0, as all three freshmen scored. Senior Breanne Kronberg then singled to right field and scored on a double to right center from sophomore Carli Raisutis. SVSU made a pitching change, but senior Stephanee Schrader welcomed Alexa Gehrls with a double to right field, which scored Raisutis for a 5-0 lead.

Grand Valley State added three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, as Rohan was just cruising along in the circle for the Lakers. Senior Rebecca Plummer singled up the middle to start the inning and she moved over to third base on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. Kosola and Bertram then forced back-to-back walks, setting the table for Martin. With two outs and the bases loaded, she roped a double off the wall in left field, easily scoring Plummer and Kosola, as Bertram slide into home ahead of the throw from the outfield.

That would be plenty of run support for Rohan. The senior righthander allowed just three base hits - one in in the second, third, and fifth innings, as only one Cardinal reached second base. In five innings of work, she struck out three batters and walked one to improve to 4-4 on the season. Her defense played well behind her, not committing an error and recording seven outs in the air and five groundouts.

Five Lakers recorded two hits apiece, as Kosola, Bertram, Martin, Kronberg, and Plummer all tallied a pair of hits. Martin's six RBI are a career-high, as she now has 10 games of at least two runs batted in. Her homerun was the ninth of the season, tying her for fourth place in a single season in GVSU history with Kristin Moleski, who accomplished the feat in 2007. She is already just one homer shy of entering the career top-10 list in Grand Valley State history.

Game two began as a pitcher's duel, though the Cardinals did open up the scoring with a run in the first frame on a solo homer from Jessica McKeith. Neither team scored again until the third inning when Kim Sills doubled to left field on a shot that hit the left field line. The ball rolled to the fence, scoring two runs before Sills was thrown out at third base. SVSU led 3-0 at this point, as all three runs were scored off of Rohan, who started the nightcap after throwing a gem in game one.

The Lakers got on the board in the top of the fourth with Raisutis' third homer of the season - a solo blast to centerfield to make the score, 3-1. That would be all the scoring GVSU would put together, however, and Saginaw Valley State notched six runs in the the bottom of the fifth inning. A bases-loaded double from McKeith off of Plummer, who pitched in relief, made the game 9-1, ending the contest by mercy rule.

Rohan took the loss, as she pitched 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. She walked two batters and struck out two, as her record dropped to 4-5. Kosola and Bertram each went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles for each freshman. GVSU managed just six hits in game two after a dozen in the opener, while the Cardinals notched 11 hits in the second game after just three safeties in game one.

Grand Valley State heads to Northwood on Thursday (April 22) for a re-scheduled game that was originally going to be played on April 10th. The twinbill in Midland tomorrow begins at 3:30 p.m.