March 12, 2011
Box Score vs. Wilmington
Box Score vs. Molloy
Clermont, Fla. - Grand Valley State closed out a great week at the NTC Spring Games on Saturday (Mar. 12) by winning its last two games and earning a third two-game sweep during the week in Clermont, Fla. The Lakers jumped out to a big lead and held off Wilmington, 7-4, and then took down Molloy by a 6-4 score in the nightcap. GVSU finishes the week with an 8-3 record and won six of its last seven contests.
While the Lakers did hit the ball well on Saturday, scoring 13 runs on 19 hits, GVSU's pitching put the team over the top. Junior Andrea Nicholson and sophomore Hannah Santora each pitched a seven-inning complete game and the duo combined to give up just two earned runs, while only walking two batters and striking out a dozen.
In the opener against Wilmington, Grand Valley State got on the scoreboard first for the 10th straight game to start the season. The Lakers got out of the gates quickly with three runs in the first inning and four more in the second inning, handing Nicholson a 7-0 lead after the opening two frames. Sophomore designated hitter Katie Martin notched an RBI single (scoring leadoff hitter Nellie Kosola, who walked) and first baseman Tonya Calkins pushed home Kayleigh Bertram with a run-scoring groundout. Martin was then driven in on an RBI single to center off the bat of catcher Emily Holt for the quick 3-0 advantage.
Grand Valley State used a few doubles in the second inning to add four more runs to its tally. Kosola doubled to left field with one out, followed by a Bertram walk. Martin then drove in both players with a line drive double to right center field. An RBI single from Calkins then scored Martin, while Calkins was pushed home from first on a double to left center from third baseman Miranda Cleary. The Lakers were now ahead 7-0 and just one run away from a possible mercy rule, but GVSU would not score again in the game.
Nicholson was cruising through the Wilmington order, giving up just two hits in the first five innings and retiring nine straight batters at one point. But the Wildcats put together a four-run sixth inning by tallying three hits and also using three Laker errors to help their cause. However, Grand Valley State shook off the bad inning and regrouped, as Nicholson recorded a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the victory.
In picking up her third win of the season, Nicholson (3-1) pitched seven innings and gave up four runs on five hits, with all four runs being unearned. She walked one batter and struck out four. Nicholson recorded nine flyball outs and eight groundouts in the win. After the opening week of the season, she leads the Lakers with a 1.85 earned run average.
Eight of the nine GVSU players in the lineup recorded a base hit, while Martin was the only player with more than one base knock. She went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBI. Calkins drove in a pair of runs, while Kosola and Bertram each crossed home plate twice.
The nightcap saw Grand Valley State face an interesting Molloy squad. In the first NFCA Top-25 poll of the season, the Lions were ranked #25, but Molloy fell from the latest rankings released on Tuesday despite not having played a game yet. It was unclear how the Lions would be this season, but they did advance to the final eight teams of the national tournament last year.
For the first time all season, GVSU did not score the game's first run, as Molloy pushed a run across the board on Santora in the top of the second inning. The Lions added a run in the third, but Grand Valley State bounced back and scored four runs in the bottom of the frame. They loaded the bases with nobody out, but back-to-back strikeouts made it appear that the Lakers would not capitalize on the situation.
Junior catcher Carli Raisutis, however, hit a hard shot to the shortstop and the ball deflected off her ankle and into left field. Sophomore Jackie Teutsch scored from third base and Bertram scored from second to tie the score at 2-2. Junior shortstop Maggie Kerrigan followed Raisutis with a sharp single to right field, scoring both Martin and Raisutis to put the Lakers ahead by a 4-2 score.
GVSU did not stop there though. Kosola led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a bunt single and two batters later, she could walk home as Martin smashed her sixth home run of the season - a two-run blast to center field that put GVSU up, 6-2. Molloy would score an unearned run in the sixth inning and add another run in the seventh inning. The Lions would actually have runners on second and third base with one out, but Santora would get a groundout to shortstop and struck out the final batter on a called third strike to end the game.
Santora also moved to 3-1 on the season by giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits. She walked one batter and struck out eight hitters. The Laker infield was very busy, as they totaled 11 groundball outs in the game.
Grand Valley State had just six hits, with Martin again leading the way with a 2-for-3 performance. She added two runs and two RBI and now has 15 career homers, putting her in seventh place all-time in GVSU history. Martin passed former Laker Lisa Preuss (2005-2008) with her home run today and with her next dinger, she will tie Kerri Jonas (1999-2003) with 16 homers. Kerrigan was also 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI.
The Lakers return home and are scheduled to take on Olivet on Thursday (March 17) in a road doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.
