April 12, 2011
Game One Box Score (11-0 W)
Game Two Box Score (4-1 W)
Hillsdale, Mich. - The 3rd-ranked Laker baseball team swept GLIAC foe Hillsdale on Tuesday (Apr. 12) behind the arms of the starting pitching staff. Freshman Bill Maple moved to 4-0 on the year with six innings of one-hit ball in the opener that led to an 11-0 victory for Grand Valley State. Freshman Cody Westerhuis then threw 4.1 innings with no earned runs in the nightcap, followed by Christopher Whitney throwing the last 2.2 innings in shutout fashion for the 4-1 win. The Lakers are now 25-3 on the year with a 14-1 mark in GLIAC play.
GVSU got the scoring started in the top of the second in game one, with a Steve Anderson hit by pitch leading off the frame. After he moved to second on a wild pitch, freshman Giancarlo Brugnoni hit a fly ball to right field that Anderson tagged up on to move to third with one out. After a walk and stolen base from senior Andrew Trepel, runners were at second and third with one out for senior Dan Ponegalek. Ponegalek singled to center field to bring Anderson in and junior Zach Laupp followed that up with a single to left field to score Trepel and make it a 2-0 game. After a double steal moved Ponegalek and Laupp to second and third, junior Garrett Yatch singled to bring in a third run and put the Lakers on top 3-0 after two innings.
The third inning started off as a copy of the second, with Anderson singling to center field to lead things off and advancing to second on another wild pitch. After Brugnoni walked, Trepel laid down a bunt single that ended up being thrown away by the pitcher, allowing Anderson to score to make it a 4-0 game and putting Brugnoni at third. Trepel then stole second yet again and Ponegalek singled through the left side to score Brugnoni and make it a 5-0 Laker lead.
The Lakers were able to manufacture two more runs in the top of the fourth starting with a Yatch single to right field to lead off the inning. After stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch, senior Paul Young singled up the middle to bring in the sixth GVSU run. Young then went to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a balk. After junior Cody Grice walked and stole second, a passed ball allowed Young to score and for Grice to move to third, making it a 7-0 game. Two strikeouts and a groundout ended the Laker threat, however.
The scoring stopped until the Lakers added four insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. A single by senior Cory Phillips, walk by Yatch and single by Young loaded the bases with one out in the frame. A Grice sacrifice fly moved Phillips in to score and Yatch to third to make it an 8-0 game. Anderson then singled to center to bring in another run and make it 9-0. Brugnoni was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, setting up Trepel for a two-RBI double into left field to make it 11-0, which is how it would end. Junior Brett Gwaltney pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the bottom half of the frame to preserve the win.
Maple went six innings to get the victory, allowing only one hit and two walks while striking out one. On the season, Maple now has a 0.00 ERA and only five hits allowed in 19 innings pitched. He's holding hitters to a .085 average on the year. For the second consecutive start against the Chargers, Maple made it through four innings without allowing a hit.
Offensively, Ponegalek led the way going 3-for-5 with one run and two RBI. Yatch and Young each went 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI and two walks in the game. Trepel had a great all-around game, going 2-for-3 with one run, three RBI, two walks and two stolen bases. Anderson also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI.
In game two, the Lakers tried to get things going in the first inning but were victim to a line drive double play with the bases loaded and one out. The Lakers threatened again in the fourth, but junior Derrik Strzalkowski was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single by junior Jared Cowan to end the inning.
GVSU finally broke through in the fifth as Yatch led off the frame with a walk before Young singled to left field and advanced to second on the throw into the infield attempting to get Yatch, who was safe at third. Grice then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Yatch, making it a 1-0 game.
Hillsdale tied the game at one on a throwing error attempting to get the runner at the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Lakers rebounded in the sixth. Ponegalek got a one-out walk and on the first pitch after Hillsdale made a pitching change, Cowan took a ball over the left-field fence for a two-run home run, his second of the year. The long ball put the Lakers up 3-1 and proved to be the game-winning runs.
In the seventh, the Lakers added an insurance run that started with a Brugnoni two-out single to left field. After Trepel reached on a fielding error and Brugnoni advanced to second, Ponegalek then did the same thing, reaching on a fielding error to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Brugnoni to make it a 4-1 game and two strikeouts with a ground out in the bottom of the seventh ended the game to give the Lakers the victory.
Westerhuis went 4.1 innings in the start, allowing five hits and no earned runs while striking out five. Whitney got the win in relief, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing one hit while striking out two to move to 3-0 on the season.
Yatch went 2-for-2 with one run, one walk and his 11th hit by pitch of the season. Cowan went 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI with his home run. Young, Grice, Strzalkowski and Ponegalek all went 1-for-3 in the contest.
The Lakers are back in action on Wednesday (Apr. 13) for a doubleheader at Northwood slated to begin in Midland, Mich. at 2 p.m.
