April 9, 2011
Game One Box Score (6-1 L)
Game Two Box Score (5-1 W) |
Photo Gallery 
Allendale, Mich. - The #3 Grand Valley State baseball team split a GLIAC doubleheader on Saturday (Apr. 9), dropping game one 6-1 before taking the nightcap by a 5-1 score. The Lakers were victimized by two home runs in game one, but rebounded by holding the Cardinals to only five hits in game two while GVSU tallied 11 hits in the victory. Junior Kyle Schepel moved to 5-0 with a six inning, three-hit performance in the nightcap.
In game one, the Lakers threatened in the top of the first, putting runners at first and third with one out. After junior Cody Grice stole second, a grounder by junior Steve Anderson back to the pitcher put senior Paul Young in a run-down on the third-base line that resulted in the second out. With runners at second and third with two out, a strikeout ended the frame.
Saginaw Valley State got on the board in the top of the third inning as Matt Hunt hit a solo homer to make it a 1-0 game and an RBI single up the middle by Chet LaFave made it 2-0.
The Lakers again put runners at the corners in the bottom of the third with two out, but a batter's interference call ended the threat with GVSU still down 2-0.
The Cardinals added two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it a 4-0 game before the Lakers got on the board in the bottom half of the frame. Young got a two-out walk and Grice brought him in with a double in the left field gap to make it 4-1.
SVSU added some insurance runs in the top of the sixth with a two-run home run by Hunt, his second of the game to make it a 6-1 game.
GVSU loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but a 1-2-3 double play stopped the Lakers' momentum and the Cardinals eventually held on for the 6-1 victory, the first setback of the GLIAC season for GVSU.
Carson Beauchaine got the win for SVSU, going the distance and allowing six hits, one run and four walks while striking out three.
Senior Joe Jablonski dropped to 4-1 on the year with the loss, going 4.1 innings and allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out four. Young led the way on offense, going 2-for-2 with one run and two walks. Senior Andrew Trepel went 2-for-3 while Grice had the only RBI in his 1-for-4 performance. Junior Derrik Strzalkowski was the only other Laker to record a hit in the game.
Game two was a much different story for GVSU as a two-run first inning got things started. Junior Garrett Yatch singled to lead off the inning and a Young single up the middle put runners at the corners. A balk brought the first run of the game in and advanced Young to second. Grice then singled up the middle, scoring Young to make it a 2-0 game.
The bottom of the second saw sophomore Chris Rudenga lead off the frame with a single and then senior Dan Ponegalek walked to put two on. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Young walked to load the bases. Grice then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-0 in favor of the Lakers after two innings.
GVSU added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning as senior Torre Aguirre led off with a double down the left field line. Junior Brian Robinson then came up trying to sacrifice pinch-runner Cory Phillips over to third, but the Cardinals left nobody covering third base, allowing Phillips to easily steal. Robinson then singled back up the middle to make it a 4-0 game. Rudenga then came up and drove a ball into the left field gap, scoring Robinson from first to make it 5-0 and putting Rudenga at third after he advanced on the throw to home. A pop-up to shallow right field, grounder to first with the infield in and a fly-out ended the inning, however.
The Cardinals got on the board in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Drew Woock, but the Lakers nailed down the win to split the doubleheader.
Schepel got the win in the nightcap with six innings of three-hit ball. He sat down five Cardinal batters and walked only one. Yatch, Rudenga and Aguirre all went 2-for-3, while Rudenga's day included a double and RBI and Aguirre had two doubles. Grice went 1-for-2 with two RBI while Robinson was 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Colin Coulter got the loss for SVSU, going five innings and allowing 11 hits, five runs and three walks while striking out two.
The Lakers are now 21-3 on the year with a 10-1 mark in GLIAC play. The Cardinals are 10-13 with a 6-6 record in the GLIAC. The same two teams are scheduled to play another doubleheader on Saturday (Apr. 10) starting at noon.
