March 6, 2011
Box Score vs. Millersville
Box Score vs. Post
Clermont, Fla. - Grand Valley State played terrific in its season-opening games on Sunday morning (Mar. 6) in Clermont, Fla., as the Lakers recorded a pair of shutout victories to begin the 2011 season. In its first game of the year, GVSU toppled Millersville by a 6-0 count and then defeated Post in an 8-0, five-inning affair that ended in a mercy rule. The Laker pitching staff allowed just seven hits in the two games, while the GVSU bats smashed five homers - three of the blasts coming off the bat of sophomore Katie Martin.
It was quite an opening day for the Lakers, who are taking part in the NTC Spring Games on the team's annual spring break trip. Grand Valley State (2-0) will play 12 games this week and probably could not have fared much better than it did on Sunday, considering it was the team's first day of competition in warm weather. GVSU wasted very little time in getting acclimated to the nice temperatures in Clermont, as the Lakers put up four runs in the first inning of both games.
The first four batters of the season all reached base for the Lakers, who were the visitors against Millersville in the opener. Centerfielder Nellie Kosola led off with a walk, while second baseman Kayleigh Bertram reached on an infield single. Martin, the GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 2010, cleared the bases by lining a triple down the right field line, scoring both Kosola and Bertram. It was the first triple of Martin's career, but far from her last extra base hit on Sunday.
Junior catcher Carli Raisutis then reached on a fielder's choice and one batter later, Raisutis moved to third base and Martin scored on an error by the Millersville first baseman. After sophomore Emily Jones singled to right field and drove in Raisutis, the Lakers had a 4-0 lead that they handed to sophomore transfer Hannah Santora on the mound.
Santora gave up two hits in the bottom of the inning, but settled down and cruised from that point. The score would remain 4-0 until the top of the fifth frame, when Bertram led off with a single up the middle. A few pitches later, Martin deposited a Millersville pitch over the fence in left center field for her first homer of the season. Martin connected for nine homers during her freshman season and would add even more to her career tally before opening day ended.
That would be all the run support Santora would need. She earned the victory and moved to 1-0 while giving up just four hits in five innings of work. Santora walked two batters and struck out four, but was also helped out by her defense, as the GVSU infield recorded eight groundball outs in the opener. Martin pitched two innings of relief, striking out four batters (including all three batters in the sixth inning) and giving up only two hits.
Grand Valley State collected 10 base hits, six of which came from Bertram and Martin. Bertram finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs, while Martin was also 3-for-4 with the home run, two runs scored, and four RBI. Jones went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while freshman third baseman Miranda Cleary picked up the team's other hit - a one-out single in the fifth inning.
The Lakers duplicated their first inning performance from game one in game two, although GVSU was the home team in the nightcap against Post. After junior pitcher Andrea Nicholson retired the final three Eagle batters after giving up a leadoff single, Grand Valley State put up another four runs. Kosola singled up the middle, which was followed by Bertram's single to center field. Martin then clubbed her second homer of the day by hitting one out to right center field and giving the Lakers a quick 3-0 lead.
Matching Martin just seconds later was freshman first baseman Tonya Calkins, who recorded her first hit as a Laker by blasting a pitch over the fence in right center field in almost the identical place as Martin's dinger. GVSU had a 4-0 lead that would be more than enough for Nicholson (1-0), who had literally no problem the rest of the way. The junior righty gave up just one base hit - the leadoff single in the first inning - and retired the final 15 batters in a row. She did so by a nice variety - Nicholson recorded six groundball outs, struck out five Eagles, and tallied four flyball outs.
With Nicholson cruising, the Lakers decided to add a few more runs in the bottom of the fourth, all coming on extra base hits. Jones led off the inning with a homer to dead center field that kept carrying on its way out of the park. Two batters later, Kosola reached on a great bunt single and then scored all the way from first base on a double to center off the bat of Bertram. Post made a pitching change and Martin welcomed new pitcher Cassidie Ern by sending one of her first tosses way out of the ballpark in left center field for her third bomb of the morning. At that point, GVSU was up 8-0 and Nicholson put together a 1-2-3 fifth inning to end the game due to mercy rule.
Bertram's 3-for-3 performance led five Lakers with multi-hit games. Two of Bertram's three hits were doubles and she scored twice while adding an RBI. Martin went 2-for-3 with the pair of homers and five RBI, finishing one RBI shy of her career-high. Just two games into her sophomore season, Martin has 12 career home runs, placing her in a tie with former Laker Breanne Kronberg for ninth-place all-time in GVSU history. Overall on Sunday, Bertram was 6-for-7 with four runs and two doubles, while Martin was 5-for-7 with four extra base-hits, nine RBI, and a ridiculous 2.286 slugging percentage.
Kosola was 2-for-3, scoring a pair of runs, while Jones added a 2-for-2 performance with a run and an RBI. Calkins finished the contest 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
GVSU gets back into action on Monday against two tough opponents. The Lakers face Wayne State (Neb.) at 9:30 a.m. and meet up with Bloomsburg at 1:30 p.m. Bloomsburg is ranked #8 in the latest NFCA poll, while Wayne State is receiving votes and sits just outside the top-25.
