Box Score - Game One (W, 9-2)
Box Score - Game Two (W, 14-1)
Findlay, Ohio -
The #18 Grand Valley State softball team closed out a 7-1 week and a 5-1 weekend with two more wins on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 25) against Findlay. GVSU totaled a 9-2 victory in the opening game before routing the Oilers by a 14-1 final in game two. The Lakers combined for 23 runs on 30 hits in the twinbill, while holding UF to just three runs on nine hits.
After scoring 45 runs in a doubleheader sweep over Rochester on Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 20), Grand Valley State split a twinbill at Tiffin on Friday (Mar. 23). GVSU, however, rolled through the rest of the weekend by sweeping Wayne State and Findlay and outscoring those two foes by a combined 38-10 score. The wins on Sunday put the Lakers at 22-4 overall and 5-1 in GLIAC play, while Findlay falls to 11-8 on the year and 3-3 in the conference.
Despite scoring 23 runs on Sunday, GVSU got off to a slow start, with Findlay actually taking a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning. The Oilers received a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the second from Lauren Mathias and Courtney Dwyer to own the early advantage. Grand Valley State cut the deficit in half in the fourth after junior Kayleigh Bertram led off with a double to left field. She moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly from junior pinch hitter Maggie Kopas to make it a 2-1 game.
The Lakers tied the score and took the lead in the fifth inning. Bertram came through in the clutch with a two-run double to right center field, scoring juniors Katie Martin and Emily Jones, both of who reached on a fielder's choice. Senior catcher Carli Raisutis brought in Bertram for a 4-2 score with a single to left field, giving Laker righthander Andrea Nicholson some breathing room in the circle. Nicholson went out in the bottom of the fifth and retired all three Oiler hitters to preserve the lead.
GVSU continued hitting the ball well, notching five runs on five hits in the sixth and essentially putting the game away. After the Lakers loaded the bases for Jones - whose three-run homer in game one against Wayne State on Saturday won the game for GVSU - she cleared the bases with a double to right center field, scoring Nellie Kosola, Briauna Taylor, and Martin. Jones was then driven home on a single up the middle from junior Tonya Calkins for an 8-2 advantage. The Lakers' final run came on a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Miranda Cleary, which scored pinch runner Jackie Teutsch.
In game one on Saturday against Wayne State, Nicholson retired the final 12 batters she faced in closing out the win. Against Findlay on Sunday, the senior recorded outs on the final 13 Oiler hitters to move to 9-3 on the year. She scattered five hits and allowed just two runs. Nicholson struck out four batters in the victory.
Martin and Bertram each tallied three hits, as both players were 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Bertram added two doubles and a pair of RBI. Raisutis went 2-for-4 and drove in a run, while Jones was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and three ribbies. Taylor was 2-for-5 and scored once.
Grand Valley State's offense picked up right where it left off in game two, as the Lakers scored 13 runs in the first three innings, including three runs in each of the first two frames. Bertram and Calkins each notched RBI singles in the first inning, while Cleary added an RBI double down the right field line to give GVSU a quick 3-0 lead after the opening stanza.
Three more runs in the second inning came on run-scoring singles from Taylor, Martin, and Cleary, as the Lakers pushed those runs across on five hits and a pair of Findlay errors. While GVSU starter Hannah Santora kept Findlay scoreless in the first three innings (allowing one hit in each of Findlay's at-bats), the Laker offense put the game away with a seven-run third inning. The big blow came after Grand Valley State loaded the bases with no outs for Martin. Just as Jones cleared the bases in game one with a three-run double, Martin followed suit by doubling to left center, adding three more runs to the team total.
Bertram notched another RBI single and junior catcher Emily Holt deposited a two-run double to right center field later in the inning. Kosola's run-scoring single made the score 13-0 in GVSU's favor. Leading 13-1 in the bottom of the fourth, pinch hitter KC Christopher doubled to right center field, driving in the final run of the game, as Santora and the Lakers closed out the game in a five-inning mercy rule.
Santora won for the fourth time this week, pushing her record to 10-1 on the season. She allowed just four hits and one unearned run in five innings, while striking out six batters.
Six Grand Valley State hitters tallied at least two hits, while Bertram had the lone three-hit contest for the Lakers. Bertram was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Martin went 2-for-3, drove in four runs, and scored three times. Kosola (two runs, one RBI), Taylor (three runs, one RBI), Jones (two runs), and Cleary (two RBI) all had two hits apiece. Holt drove in a pair of ribbies with her double in the fourth inning.
The Lakers head to Northwood on Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 28) for a doubleheader with the Timberwolves starting at 3:30 p.m. After that twinbill, eight of the next nine GVSU doubleheaders will be played in Allendale.
