April 5, 2011

Game One Box Score (22-0 W)

Game Two Box Score (4-2 W) |  Photo Gallery 

Allendale, Mich. - The #3 Grand Valley State baseball team certainly gave the home crowd something to talk about following their doubleheader sweep of Hillsdale on Tuesday (Apr. 5) in the team's home opener. The Lakers rolled to a 22-0 victory in game one, the most runs a GVSU team has scored since 2007. In the nightcap, the Lakers pulled out a 4-2 victory. On the day, GVSU pitchers held Hillsdale to only five hits in the doubleheader as the Lakers moved to 20-2 on the season and 9-0 in the GLIAC, the best conference start in school history.

In game one, it was a 12-run first inning that put the game away as quickly as it started for the Lakers. Eight runs crossed the plate for the Lakers before Hillsdale even recorded an out in the inning. Junior Garrett Yatch got things started with a single, followed by a walk from senior Paul Young. Junior Cody Grice then got the scoring started by driving a double into the right field gap to bring in both runners, making it a 2-0 game. A single by junior Steve Anderson brought Grice in to make it 3-0 and after Anderson stole second base, junior Derrik Strzalkowski kept the hit parade going with an RBI single to right field. Senior Andrew Trepel then hit a single that got thrown away at first, allowing Trepel to advance all the way to third and scoring Strzalkowski to make it a 5-0 game.

After freshman Giancarlo Brugnoni and junior Zach Laupp walked to load the bases, senior Cory Phillips doubled into the right field gap to score two and push the lead to 7-0. Yatch then came back to the plate for his second at-bat of the inning and grounded out to second for the first out of the frame, but it scored another run to make it an 8-0 lead for the Lakers. After Phillips scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-0 and Young got walked, the Chargers made a pitching change with the starter only going one-third of an inning and allowing 10 runs after Young came around to score on a bases loaded walk to make it 10-0.

Trepel ended the scoring in the first inning with a bases loaded two-RBI single into right field to make it 12-0. The damage in the first inning ended up being 12 runs on seven hits and one error.

The Lakers kept things going in the bottom of the second inning as Phillips led off the frame by putting himself on third base after a fly ball to right field gave the outfielder trouble and the ball found it's way to the ground. Phillips came in to score on a wild pitch and an Anderson sacrifice fly later in the inning scored Young from third to make the score 14-0.

Phillips singled in Trepel in the third inning to make it a 15-0 game after three innings were complete. The scoring ceased for only one inning as the Lakers came back out with the bats producing in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Strzalkowski and senior Dan Ponegalek walked to start the frame, an RBI double from senior Torre Aguirre made it a 16-0 game. A Laupp sacrifice fly made it a 17-0 game and after a Phillips single, Brian Robinson hit by pitch and Chris Rudenga walk, the bases were loaded again for GVSU. A passed ball allowed everyone to move up, making it an 18-0 game, and a walk by Grice loaded the bases again with two out. Junior Blake Batteast was then also hit by a pitch to make it 19-0 and Strzalkowski suffered the same fate, getting hit by a pitch in the next at-bat to make it an even 20-0. Ponegalek then singled to right field with the bases loaded to score two and make it 22-0, what would eventually be the final score.

The 22-run shutout is the second largest shutout in school history, bested only by a 24-0 win over Hillsdale on April 10th, 1981. The 22-run margin of victory is the fourth largest in school history, getting beat out by the aforementioned 24-0 game, a 27-2 victory over Bluefield State on March 4th, 2000 and a 36-3 victory over Concordia on April 10th, 1998. The shutout also marked the second straight for the Lakers, the first time they accomplished that since March 15th, 2009 when GVSU defeated Findlay 3-0 and Lake Erie 6-0 on the same day. The Lakers drew 15 walks in the game, the best total since drawing 18 walks against Gannon on March 30th, 2007.

The abnormal scoring output ended up overshadowing a fantastic outing by junior Christopher Whitney, who only needed 77 pitches to go the distance and allowed only three hits while striking out six and walking one to move to 2-0 on the season.

Offensively, the Lakers were led by Phillips who went 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, including his team-leading eighth double of the year. Grice, Anderson, Trepel and Ponegalek all had two RBI in the game while Strzalkowski went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI. Yatch, Aguirre and Laupp each recorded one RBI in the game. Young managed to score three runs despite not recording a single at-bat, as he had two walks and was hit by a pitch, but came around to score each time.

Game two was quite a different story for the Lakers. GVSU found themselves down 2-0 after two innings thanks to a double steal with runners on first and third and an error that allowed a run to score. The Lakers responded in the bottom of the third inning as freshman Giancarlo Brugnoni led off the frame with a single and that was followed by a walk from junior Jared Cowan. After Phillips advanced Brugnoni to third on a bunt but reached first while the Chargers threw Cowan out at second, Yatch singled into left field to cut the lead in half. A walk to Young loaded the bases for Grice, who ended up getting hit by a pitch to tie the game at two. Anderson then brought in the go-ahead run with a grounder to short that looked like a double-play ball, but Anderson was able to beat the turn at first to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead.

Freshman Bill Maple got his first career start as a Laker after making four relief appearances and he even flirted with a no-hitter in his first collegiate start. After no-hitting the Chargers through 4.1 innings, Maple got a grounder back at him that bounced off his leg and got away, giving Hillsdale their first hit of the game. He would get through the rest of the fifth inning without trouble, however. The Lakers added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on an Anderson sacrifice fly that scored Yatch, who had led off the inning with a double down the right field line to make it a 4-2 game.

Relievers Jacob Cox and Brad Zambron each pitched scoreless innings in relief to get the win for the Lakers. Maple earned the victory to move to 3-0 on the year, going five innings, allowing only one hit while striking out four and walking five. He allowed two runs, but both were unearned. Zambron struck out two in the top of the seventh inning to get his third save of the season.

Yatch led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI, including his fifth double of the year. Anderson had two RBI in the game while Grice had one. Young and Cowan each went 1-for-2 with a walk while Brugnoni went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

GVSU is now 20-2 on the year and stands unblemished in the GLIAC with a 9-0 conference record. The nine straight wins to begin the conference schedule is the best in school history, topping last season's 8-0 start. The Lakers have now won 14 straight games dating back to March 6th.

GVSU will have a little fun on Wednesday (Apr. 6) night when the team travels to Comstock Park to take on the West Michigan Whitecaps in a six inning exhibition game slated to begin at 6 p.m., weather permitting. The next regular season games for the Lakers will be on Saturday (Apr. 9) and Sunday (Apr. 10) when GVSU welcomes rival Saginaw Valley State into Allendale for a four-game series. Saturday's doubleheader is set to start at 1 p.m.