April 28, 2012

Game One Box Score (7-6 L)

Game Two Box Score (7-2 W)

Allendale, Mich. - The eighth-ranked Grand Valley State baseball team began its final home weekend of the 2012 season on Saturday (Apr. 28), splitting a doubleheader with Wayne State. The Lakers dropped game one 7-6 before rebounding for a 7-2 victory in the nightcap.

Game one didn't get off to the start the Lakers were looking for, allowing Wayne State to score in each of the first four innings. The Warriors put up a single run in the top of the first on an RBI ground out, but the Lakers responded in the bottom half with a run of their own. GVSU put runners on the corners with nobody out, but a double play cleared the bases, bringing a run in to tie the game at one.

Wayne State went up 2-1 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the second, then extended their lead in the top of the third with a three-run home run to the opposite field by Kyle Vesey to make it a 5-1 game.

GVSU responded again, getting an RBI single by redshirt freshman Kevin Zak (Novi, Mich.) and bringing in another run on a groundout to cut the lead to 5-3 after three innings.

Wayne State put up single runs in the top of the fourth and sixth, sandwiched around an RBI single from senior Steve Anderson (Northville, Mich.) in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 7-4 game going in to the last inning of play.

The Lakers made a strong effort in the bottom of the seventh as freshman Mike Nadratowski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth) singled to lead off the inning. After a strikeout, Zak doubled to the gap in right field to bring Nadratowski in, making it 7-5. Zak moved to third on a balk and came in to score on an RBI groundout by Anderson to make it 7-6, but the Warriors would nail down the final out to preserve the victory, snapping the Lakers' 15-game winning streak.

Both teams committed three errors but the Lakers outhit Wayne State 11-7. Senior Kyle Schepel (Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian) had an uncharacteristic day on the mound, surrendering four hits, five earned runs and four walks with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work, absorbing the loss to fall to 8-3 on the year. Senior Chris Whitney (Macomb, Mich./Kellogg C.C.) threw 3.1 innings of relief, allowing three hits and one run with one strikeout.

Josh Wedesky (5-3) earned the victory despite allowing 10 hits in six innings of work.

The Laker offense was led by both Zak and Anderson who each contributed three hits. Zak finished 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and his sixth double of the season. Anderson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. Nadratowski went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and his fourth double of the season.

Game two began in much of the same way, with Wayne State jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second. The Lakers brought two of their own in during the bottom half of the inning to tie it, however. With runners on second and third with one out, freshman Mitchell Kozlowski (Madison Heights, Mich./Lamphere) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to allow one to score, while a Nadratowski single in to center field tied the game at two.

This time, however, senior starting pitcher Ryan Garman (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Johnson County C.C.) was able to get on track and nail down the rest of the game. After surrendering a double and triple in back-to-back at-bats to lead off the second inning, Garman allowed only two hits in the final five innings of work with no walks.

The Lakers' big inning came in the bottom of the fourth as GVSU was able to push four runs across. Nadratowski had a two-RBI single, while Zak and sophomore Giancarlo Brugnoni (Grosse Pointe, Mich./De La Salle) each had RBI singles of their own to make it a 6-2 game.

GVSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from senior Jared Cowan (Davison, Mich.) that scored Zak to make it 7-2.

Garman (8-2) was able to go the distance and finish the job for the Lakers, finishing with a final line of seven innings, four hits, two runs, no walks and five strikeouts to earn the victory, tying him for the GLIAC lead in wins.

Zak had another three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI, finishing his day 6-for-8 with three runs and three RBI. Brugnoni also went 3-for-4 in the game, scoring once and driving one in. Nadratowski tied a season-high with three RBI, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Greg Spiess (3-2) took the loss for Wayne State, surrendering 10 hits and six runs with no strikeouts in three innings of work.

The split puts the Lakers at 31-11 overall with a 21-7 mark in the GLIAC, holding the conference lead by two games. Wayne State sits at 25-14 overall with a 16-10 record in the conference.

The same two teams will finish their four-game set on Sunday (Apr. 29) with the first pitch set for noon. It will be the last two home games of the year for the Lakers, so the 13 seniors will be honored during pre-game festivities at approximately 11:45 a.m. It will also be the last time that head coach Steve Lyon takes the Laker Baseball Field after 14 years at the helm of the Grand Valley State baseball team.