Box Score - Game One (L, 2-1)
Box Score - Game Two (W, 4-1)
Tiffin, Ohio -
Two of the top teams in the Midwest Region last season met on Friday afternoon (Mar. 23) in Tiffin, Ohio in both teams' conference-opening doubleheader. Tiffin scored late in game one to earn a 2-1 victory in a pitcher's duel, while #18 Grand Valley State got a terrific pitching performance and some timely hitting to earn a split with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap.
In the 2011 Midwest Regional Tournament in May, Tiffin was the #1 seed, while GVSU hosted the tournament and was the region's fourth seed. While the teams did not face each other that weekend, the Lakers won the four-team tournament and advanced to the Midwest Super Regional Tournament. Friday's meeting between the two teams was definitely a good early-season test to see where each team stood at this point of the year.
Tiffin (10-9 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run in the fifth inning of the opening game to get the one-run victory. GVSU (18-4, 1-1) responded with a pair of two-run innings, an outstanding performance in the circle from junior Hannah Santora, and a big home run from junior Katie Martin to get the 4-1 win in game two. The Laker pitching was tremendous all day, as Santora and senior Andrea Nicholson allowed just three base hits in 13 innings.
Both teams crossed the plate in the first inning of game one. Martin reached on a fielder's choice and was pushed to second base with two outs. Senior catcher Carli Raisutis singled back up the middle and brought Martin in for the game's first run and a 1-0 Laker lead. The Dragons answered in the bottom of the frame, as Stephanie Bobotas walked with one out, stole second base with two outs, and scored on Caitlin Houk's single to center field, knotting the game at 1-1.
From there, both pitchers took over. For Grand Valley State, Nicholson was superb, while Tiffin's Amber Young was just as good. After the first inning in which both teams had a hit, neither team recorded another base knock until Houk ripped a one-out single in the fourth. Houk advanced to second base, but Nicholson worked out of the inning and kept the game tied.
The Dragons broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning for the game-winning run. A leadoff walk eventually came around to score on a sacrifice bunt and a GVSU error, as Tiffin tallied the winning run without the benefit of a base hit. Grand Valley State did put runners on first base (junior Nellie Kosola on a two-out bunt single) and third base (junior Kayleigh Bertram on a leadoff infield single), but they were both stranded on a flyball out to end the game.
Nicholson falls to 7-3 on the year despite another strong effort in the circle for the Lakers. She allowed just two hits and two runs (only one earned) in six innings of work. Nicholson walked two batters and struck out two. For Tiffin, Young (4-5) scattered four hits and one unearned run in a complete-game win. She recorded seven strikeouts and walked three hitters.
Raisutis, Kosola, Bertram, and sophomore Miranda Cleary had the four base hits for Grand Valley State, which left seven runners on base in the game.
Game two saw another strong pitching performance from the Lakers, but this time, GVSU's potent offense came through in the clutch. The game was scoreless in the bottom of the third inning, while Santora actually had kept Tiffin hitless in its first three at-bats. Kosola started things with a one-out single to left field and stole second base with two outs. Martin came up and delivered her first home run in 2012, a towering shot to left field that put Grand Valley State ahead 2-0. It was the 30th home run of Martin's career, as she is second all-time in Laker history, behind Kim Biskup's 46 roundtrippers.
Tiffin did break through for a run in the top of the fourth inning, but a Laker error helped provide the run. Grand Valley State did get out of trouble thanks to catcher Emily Holt throwing out a runner at third baseman Cleary after the error. Santora retired the next out via a groundball and would not allow another base hit the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Lakers earned those runs right back with a pair of scores on three hits. GVSU had runners on first base (senior Maggie Kerrigan on an infield single) and third base (pinch runner Becky Gill, who was in after Holt's single up the middle) with one out. Junior Maggie Kopas was inserted into the game as a pinch hitter and she delivered. Kopas singled up the middle and drove in Gill, while pushing Kerrigan to second base with the run-scoring base hit.
A walk to Kosola loaded the bases and sophomore Briauna Taylor brought Kerrigan home on a sacrifice fly for an insurance run and a 4-1 lead. Santora took it from there, going 1-2-3 in both the fifth and sixth innings and allowing just one Dragon hitter to reach base (on a hit by pitch) in the seventh.
Moving to 8-1 on the year, Santora pitched a complete-game one-hitter. The run she allowed was of the unearned variety, while Santora walked two batters and fanned seven Tiffin hitters. Kosola was the lone hitter in the game with more than one hit, as she went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Martin was 1-for-3 with the homer and two RBI, while Kopas tallied the pinch-hit RBI single.
GVSU's six-game weekend continues on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 24) in Detroit, Mich. The Lakers face Wayne State in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.
