April 23, 2011

Game One Box Score (14-0 W)

Game Two Box Score (5-4 W) |  Photo Gallery 

Allendale, Mich. - The 3rd-ranked Lakers pushed their winning streak to 15 straight games on Saturday (Apr. 23) with a doubleheader sweep of Findlay for the second day in a row. GVSU ripped into the Oilers for a 14-0 victory in game one before coming from behind late in the game to take the nightcap by a 5-4 score. Senior Andrew Trepel went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and an RBI on the day to lead the Laker offense.

Again it was the first inning that the Lakers used to their advantage on Saturday. Already outscoring opponents 64-5 in the opening frame this season, GVSU got out to an early 5-0 lead after the first in game one highlighted by junior Steve Anderson hitting his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot, tying for the conference lead. After singles from freshman Giancarlo Brugnoni and Trepel, a dropped fly ball by the right fielder allowed both runners to score and put senior Dan Ponegalek on second with a 4-0 lead. Junior Zach Laupp then brought him in on a single up the middle to cap off the early scoring at 5-0 in favor of the Lakers.

Five more runs got put up on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning on RBI singles from Laupp, senior Cory Phillips and junior Garrett Yatch. With an 8-0 lead and Yatch and senior Paul Young on base, junior Cody Grice barely missed his third home run of the weekend as he hit a triple off the wall in the right field gap to push the lead out to 10.

The Lakers added one run each in the bottom of the fourth on another Phillips RBI single and in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Trepel. Two more runs came in during the bottom of the sixth off of an RBI double from senior Torre Aguirre and a Yatch RBI single to make it a 14-0 game.

Senior Joe Jablonski was stellar in the game, throwing a no-hitter through four innings before allowing a lead off single in the top of the fifth. He finished the game with a line of six innings, three hits allowed and six strikeouts as he moved to 5-1 on the season. Sophomore Brad Zambron pitched a perfect inning in relief, as well.

Offensively, every starter for the Lakers had a hit in the game with Laupp leading the way, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Yatch and Anderson both went 2-for-5 with one run and two RBI while Trepel finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Grice and Phillips each had two RBI in the contest.

Game two was quite a different story from the rest of the weekend for the Lakers. After cruising through two innings of play scoreless, Findlay took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third after three straight bases loaded walks. The Oilers threw another run up on the board in the top of the fourth on an RBI triple, putting GVSU in a position they haven't been in often this season.

Finally, in the bottom of the fifth, the Lakers started clawing back. Yatch got a one-out walk, followed by a double from Young down the left field line that scored Yatch and allowed Young to reach third on the throw to home. A ground out from Grice then scored Young to cut the lead in half at 4-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, a one-out single from Trepel and another single by Ponegalek put two men on for the Lakers. With pinch-hitter Phillips at the plate, a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and a smash to first base that hit off the heel of the glove of the fielder allowed one run to score and Phillips to reach third. With runners on the corners with one out and down 4-3, sophomore Chris Rudenga laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt on a squeeze play in a 1-1 count that allowed Ponegalek to score and tie the game. With Phillips at second, Yatch then singled into left field and Phillips crossed the plate to put the Lakers ahead 5-4.

Zambron would nail the game down in the seventh despite the Oilers putting the tying run on second to earn the victory. Zambron pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and no runs in relief to move to 3-1 on the year. Starter Kyle Schepel had control issues in the third and exited the game after two innings, three hits, three runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Junior Christopher Whitney came on in relief to throw 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run while striking out four.

Young finished 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI in the game while Trepel was the only other Laker to get two hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Grice and Yatch each went 1-for-3 with an RBI while phillips and Rudenga each had one RBI in the contest as well.

GVSU is now 35-3 on the season with a 24-1 record in GLIAC action. Findlay falls to 11-25-1 with an 8-17 mark in the GLIAC. The Lakers are now off for a week until they travel to Detroit to take on Wayne State on Saturday (Apr. 30) at 1:00 p.m. for a doubleheader.