April 3, 2011
Game One Box Score (2-1 W)
Game Two Box Score (7-0 W, Garman no-hitter)
Ashland, Ohio - Junior Ryan Garman threw the seventh no-hitter in Grand Valley State history on Sunday (Apr. 3) in the second game of a doubleheader against Ashland, striking out eight and walking two for the 7-0 victory. Garman moved to 3-1 on the season with the gem as he led the way in the sweep. Earlier in the day, junior Kyle Schepel moved to 4-0 on the year with a complete game victory where he tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 win.
Game one was a pitcher's duel all game long between Schepel and Ashland ace Ajay Meyer. Ashland pushed a run across in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI groundout to take a 1-0 lead and GVSU couldn't respond until the top of the sixth.
In the sixth, it was Paul Young coming up big yet again for the Lakers. After a Garrett Yatch double down the left field line, Young hit his team-leading third homerun of the season, a two-run shot to right field to put the Lakers in front by a 2-1 score.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Eagles threatened, getting a lead-off walk and a one-out single to put two runners on. After a lineout that advanced the runner to third, Ashland's pinch-hitter struck out swinging with the tying run only 90 feet away. Schepel then sat the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the seventh to get the hard fought victory.
Schepel tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in the contest and allowed only five hits and one run. Young was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, giving him the team lead with 19 RBI on the season. Yatch went 2-for-2 with one run scored. Steve Anderson and Jared Cowan each went 1-for-3 in the game with Cowan hitting his second double of the year.
Game two started and the Lakers got on the board early. Anderson hit an RBI single through the left side that scored Yatch who had led the game off with a single and moved to third on a wild pitch and groundout. Early on, the Lakers held a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, Ashland actually threatened as they got on base with the lead-off man from a hit-by-pitch. After a flyout to left field and a stolen base, the Eagles had a man on second with one out. However, a strikeout and flyout ended the minor threat.
The third inning resulted in what would end up being four insurance runs for the Lakers. With runners on second and third with one out, Young walked to load the bases for Cody Grice. Grice singled to center field and an error by the center fielder ended up allowing all three runs to score and ended up with Grice standing on third. A wild pitch then brought Grice in, making it a 5-0 Laker lead.
Ashland put a runner at second with two outs in the bottom half of the third inning after a walk put two runners on, but a pop-up got the Lakers out of the inning.
The Lakers poured two more runs on in the top of the seventh. Yatch led off the frame with a double and was moved to third on a groundout before being brought across the plate on a Grice RBI single to center field. After an Anderson walk put two runners on, Torre Aguirre grounded into a fielder's choice which saw the second baseman throw the ball away trying to turn a double play, allowing Grice to score and make it a 7-0 game.
Garman came to the mound in the seventh and faced three pinch-hitters from the Ashland bench. After getting a flyout in foul territory to right field, Garman struck out Klein and Manser swinging for the final two outs of the no-hitter.
Garman finished the game with eight strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters in the first no-hitter for GVSU since Danny Richard threw a perfect game against Kentucky Wesleyan on March 3rd, 2009.
The top four hitters went a combined 7-for-12 for the Lakers in the game, led by Grice who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Anderson went 3-for-3 with an RBI and lead-off hitter Yatch went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
The Lakers are now 18-2 on the season with a 7-0 mark in GLIAC play. GVSU will play their first home games on Tuesday (Apr. 5) when they welcome Hillsdale into Allendale for a doubleheader slated to begin at 2 p.m.
