April 21, 2012

Game One Box Score (4-0 W)

Game Two Box Score (3-2 W)

Allendale, Mich. - The #11 Grand Valley State baseball team got a pitching gem from senior Kyle Schepel (Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian) in game one and a clutch home run from senior Steve Anderson (Northville, Mich.) in game two to sweep Findlay on Saturday (Apr. 21).

The story in game one was Schepel, who twirled a one-hit gem in the opener with nine strikeouts. Schepel surrendered a hit to left field in the bottom of the second inning, then retired 10 straight Oilers en route to the victory.

The Lakers didn't need much offense with Schepel on the mound, but GVSU put up three runs in the top of the second to jump on top early. Senior Jared Cowan (Davison, Mich.) hit a one-out single to right field, then moved to second as sophomore Giancarlo Brugnoni (Grosse Pointe, Mich./De La Salle) reached on an error to put two on. A single in to center by senior Derrik Strzalkowski (London, Ont./Kellogg C.C.) loaded the bases with one out and the Oilers looked ready to get out of the inning when a ground ball back to the pitcher got the out at the plate, but kept the bases loaded with two outs.

The nine-hitter then came up big for the Lakers, as freshman Mitchell Kozlowski (Madison Heights, Mich./Lamphere) came up with the clutch hit, lacing a single in to center field to score three. Brugnoni and Strzalkowski scored easily, while junior Chris Rudenga (South Holland, Ill./Illiana Christian) scored all the way from first on an error to make it 3-0.

GVSU added one more in the top of the sixth when Rudenga singled in Brugnoni from third, who had led off the inning with a double to the left field gap, making it 4-0.

Meanwhile, Schepel was cruising through the Oiler lineup, throwing a complete game shutout en route to the victory. Schepel went all seven innings, allowing only one hit and one walk with nine punch outs on 97 pitches. Schepel moved to 8-2 on the season with the victory and it was the second time in three starts that Schepel surrendered only one hit in at least six innings of work. For the season, Schepel has thrown at least five innings in every start and has surrendered more than four hits only twice. Most impressively, Schepel has now gone 21.1 innings without allowing a run, dating back to April 6th.

Rudenga was the only Laker to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Kozlowski finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Brugnoni went 1-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

Game two was much tighter for the Lakers. GVSU got on the board first with a run in the top of the second as Anderson scored on an errant pick-off move to second to give the Lakers an early lead.

Findlay took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 2-1.

The turning point and clutch hitting came in the top of the sixth inning. With redshirt freshman Kevin Zak (Novi, Mich.) at first, Anderson, the newly-crowned career total bases leader at GVSU and preseason All-American, proved just that by depositing a homer over the left field fence to give the lead back to the Lakers, 3-2.

GVSU got more strong pitching in game two as senior Ryan Garman (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Johnson County C.C.) worked six innings, allowing four hits and only one earned run with four strikeouts to earn the victory and move to 7-2 on the year. Junior Brad Zambron (Waterford, Mich./Brother Rice) made a little history of his own, notching his 10th save of the season with one inning of perfect relief. The save matched his total from last year and tied his own record for single-season saves in GVSU history.

Anderson finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI, including his 12th double and sixth longball of the season.

The sweep extends the Lakers' winning streak to 13 games and GVSU has now won 14 straight games against the Oilers.

GVSU is now 28-10 on the year with an 18-6 record in the GLIAC. Findlay falls to 14-23 with a 7-17 mark in the conference.

The same two teams will take each other on in another doubleheader on Sunday (Apr. 22) slated to begin at noon at Fifth Third Field.