April 3, 2012
Game One Box Score (6-4 W)
Game Two Box Score (5-2 L)
Hillsdale, Mich. - The #21 Grand Valley State baseball team went on the road on Tuesday (Apr. 2) and split a doubleheader with Hillsdale, taking game one 6-4 before falling in the nightcap by a 5-2 score.
In game one, the Lakers actually jumped out to a 3-0 lead, getting two runs in the top of the second. Senior Jared Cowan led off the inning with a double to the right field gap. Following a single by sophomore Giancarlo Brugnoni to put runners on the corners and a walk by redshirt freshman Kevin Zak, freshman Mitchell Kozlowski singled to right field with two outs to bring in Cowan and Brugnoni scored after an errant throw by the catcher allowed everyone to move up a base.
In the top of the third, senior Zach Laupp led off the frame with his second home run of the year, a long ball to left field.
Hillsdale would ultimately take a 4-3 lead, putting up runs in each of the middle innings. A walk and an RBI double in the bottom of the third brought in one run. In the bottom of the fourth, two consecutive singles to begin the frame got things started. Following a foul out to the catcher on an attempted sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch moved both runners over anyway and an RBI single brought one run in. After the Lakers got another out to inch closer to the end of the inning, another RBI single brought the second run in to the game at three.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Lakers fell behind when a lead-off home run put the Chargers on top, 4-3.
GVSU responded in the following inning, putting up two runs of its own in the top of the sixth. A one-out single by Zak was the first of three straight singles to bring one run in as he was followed with singles by junior Stephen Claypool and freshman Lance Buitendyk, who brought in Zak. A sacrifice bunt by senior Derrik Strzalkowski with runners on the corners to bring in the go-ahead run and put the Lakers up 5-4.
Senior Steve Anderson led off the seventh with a single and Cowan laid down a bunt single to put runners on first and second. Again, it was Zak coming up with a big hit, singling to left field to bring home Anderson for an insurance run to make it 6-4.
Senior Jacob Cox (2-0) got the win in relief, throwing 1.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing only one hit with one strikeout. Starter Cory Rademacher was pulled after 3.1 innings, allowing three runs with three strikeouts. Senior Brett Gwaltney threw an inning in relief and junior Brad Zambron picked up his fifth save of the season with 1.1 innings of perfect relief.
Zak led the way on offense, going 2-for-2 with a run scored, RBI and two walks. Zak extended his hitting streak to eight straight and finished the game 5-of-6 in his last three contests and 7-of-11 in the last five games. Anderson and Cowan each had two hits and a run scored, including Cowan's sixth double of the year. Laupp, Buitendyk and Kozlowski each had one hit and one RBI in the game.
Game two saw the Lakers take the lead right off the bat with consecutive doubles by Laupp and Anderson to go up 1-0 in the top of the first.
Hillsdale responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to the first three hitters of the inning reaching base to score one and another run scoring on a ground ball double play to go up 2-1.
Strzalkowski led off the second inning with a walk and Buitendyk reached base with a bunt single. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, freshman Mike Nadratowski singled to left field to bring the tying run home but Buitendyk was thrown out at the plate with the go-ahead run. The second inning ended with the game tied, 2-2.
Hillsdale took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth with two RBI singles and then added an insurance run with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to go up 5-2, which is how the game would end.
Senior Chris Whitney (0-1) took the loss, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing only two earned runs. Shane Armstrong (1-3) got the win for the Chargers, throwing six innings w ith six hits allowed, two runs, four walks and three strikeouts. Kris Morris got the save, throwing a scoreless seventh inning.
The offense was led by three Lakers with two hits. Nadratowski and Anderson each went 2-for-4 with an RBI, including Anderson's eighth double of the year. Buitendyk went 2-for-3 in the game, while Potts drew two walks.
With the split, GVSU is now 15-9 on the year with a 5-5 mark in the GLIAC. Hillsdale moves to 4-20 on the year with a 2-10 record in the conference.
The Lakers will now head to University Center, Mich. on Friday and Saturday for a pair of doubleheaders against GLIAC-leading Saginaw Valley State. Friday's (Apr. 6) games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
