April 22, 2011

Game One Box Score (13-5 W)

Game Two Box Score (15-1 W) |  Photo Gallery 

Allendale, Mich. - The Laker baseball team, ranked third in the country, brought out the big sticks on Friday (Apr. 22) in a doubleheader sweep of Findlay, taking down the Oilers 13-5 and 15-1. Junior Cody Grice hit a home run in each game, while junior Steve Anderson hit his team leading fifth home run of the season. Senior Cory Phillips reached base in every plate apperance on the day, going 4-for-4 with three walks. The win in game one marked the best record GVSU has reached in school history.

It was an ominous start to the day as the first televised baseball games in school history were pushed back over an hour due to rain, but the Lakers made it worth it for the fans who stuck it out to see GVSU play.

In game one, Findlay took an early lead with two runs in the top of the second on a Laker fielding error that allowed runners from second and third to score. GVSU responded in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out two-RBI double from Phillips into the left field gap to tie the score at two.

Findlay took the lead back in the top of the third with a two-RBI single up the middle that scored runners from second and third yet again to make it a 4-2 Oiler lead. The Lakers got one back in the bottom of the third with a Grice lead-off home run to left field to cut the lead to 4-3 after three innings.

The Lakers broke it open in the bottom of the fourth inning starting with a bunt single from junior Zach Laupp to lead off the inning. A Phillips double down the left field line put runners on second and third with nobody out and a grounder off the bat of junior Garrett Yatch led to the tying run crossing the plate as Laupp beat the throw home when the fielder took the chance of erasing the lead runner rather than taking the out at first. After Phillips was caught stealing third, senior Paul Young hit a single into center field that put runners at the corners with one out. An Anderson RBI single brought Yatch in to give the Lakers a 5-4 lead and after an Oiler pitching change, a wild pitch put the Lakers up 6-4 as Young scampered in to score. An RBI single from freshman Giancarlo Brugnoni made it 7-4 and after a walk from senior Andrew Trepel, senior Dan Ponegalek singled into right field to score Brugnoni cleanly while Trepel scored on a throwing error from the right fielder to make it a 9-4 game.

GVSU poured it on in the bottom of the fifth as Phillips and Yatch led off the inning with walks and a Grice double scored Phillips to make it 10-4. Anderson capped off the scoring in the next at-bat with a three run bomb into the trees outside of the left field fence to make it 13-4.

Findlay got a solo home run in the top of the seventh to make it 13-5, but that was all they could muster as the Lakers took the victory. With the win in the opener of the doubleheader to move to 32-3 on the year, this season's team surpassed the 2007 squad for the best start to a season in school history. The 2007 team began the year 31-4 and finished the season 45-9, the best record percentage-wise in team history.

Junior Ryan Garman got the win for the Lakers, going four innings and allowing six hits and one earned run while striking out four to move to 6-1 on the season. Junior Christopher Whitney threw two perfect innings of relief while junior Cory Rademacher threw the final inning of the game.

Offensive, every Laker hitter scored in the contest while Yatch, Grice, Anderson and Laupp all scored twice. Grice and Anderson each went 2-for-4 with a home run in the game while Grice had two RBI and Anderson had four. Phillips went 3-for-3 with two doubles, one run, two RBI and a walk. Yatch, Brugnoni and Ponegalek each had one RBI.

In game two, Findlay again took the early lead but it was very short-lived. The Oilers got a lead-off single from Jason Reitenbach, who then stole second and third before crossing the plate on an RBI groundout from Reid Rothenbuhler with nobody out. That would mark the end of Findlay's scoring for the day, however.

Yatch led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single and came in to score and tie the game on a double down the right field line by sophomore Chris Rudenga which the right fielder dove for but couldn't come up with. Grice then singled to left field to score Rudenga and give the Lakers a 2-1 lead and after stealing second base, advanced to third on a Brugnoni single into right. Trepel then scored Grice as he legged out a potential double play ball to put the Lakers up 3-1 after one.

In the bottom of the third, Rudenga was again involved in the scoring as he led off the inning with a single and went to third on a one-out double down the left field line from Anderson. Brugnoni then hit a sinking fly ball into right field that hit off the fielder's glove, allowing Brugnoni to go to second and both runs to score to make it a 5-1 game. After going to third on a wild pitch, three straight walks for the Lakers brought Brugnoni in to make it a 6-1 score. The hustle play of the game went to Yatch in the next at-bat, who hit a groundball to the first baseman who fielded it cleanly, but Yatch beat the pitcher to first who was trying to cover and two runs scored as all the runners were moving on the full-count pitch. The Lakers held an 8-1 lead after three innings.

GVSU added five more in the bottom of the fourth off Grice's second home run of the day and a three-run pinch-hit bomb from senior Torre Aguirre that cleared the scoreboard in left-center field and was one of the longest home runs hit at Laker Baseball Field in recent memory. Two more were added in the bottom of the sixth inning off the bat of junior Jared Cowan who hit a two-run home run for his third roundtripper of the season to cap the scoring on the day as the Lakers took game two 15-1.

Freshman Bill Maple moved to 6-0 on the season with five strong innings. After allowing the lead-off single to begin the game, Maple retired 13 of the next 14 batters. His final line was five innings, four hits and one run allowed with five strikeouts. Juniors Brett Gwaltney and Jacob Cox each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to wrap up the victory.

Rudenga led the way offensively, going 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Grice went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and a walk including his third home run of the season while Yatch went 2-for-4 with one run, two RBI and a walk. Cowan finished 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and a walk with his third homer of the year while Aguirre's three-run bomb was his third of the season as well.

GVSU is now 33-3 on the season, the best record that the Lakers have held in school history. They also hold a 22-1 mark in GLIAC play as GVSU looks to chase down the best ever regular season GLIAC record of 28-3 set by the 2007 GVSU squad. Findlay drops to 11-23-1 overall, 8-15 in the GLIAC. The same two teams will play another doubleheader on Saturday (Apr. 23) beginning at noon in Allendale.