April 7, 2012

Box Score - Game One (L, 5-3)

Box Score - Game Two (W, 5-0)

Allendale, Mich. - For the second consecutive day, #14 Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State each won a game in a GLIAC doubleheader in Allendale. On Saturday (Apr. 7), the Cardinals won the opener by a 5-3 score, while GVSU blanked Saginaw Valley State in the nightcap, 5-0.

In game one, SVSU tallied all five of its runs in the top of the third by totaling five hits, although the Lakers committed a pair of errors in the inning. Grand Valley State got back to within two runs before the Cardinals closed out the win. The nightcap featured junior Hannah Santora securing her second straight complete game shutout by allowing just three hits in the victory.

With the split, Grand Valley State is now 30-8 overall and 13-5 in GLIAC play, while SVSU is 15-15 on the year and 8-8 in the conference. GVSU reached the 30-win plateau for the 17th time in program history and the 16th time under head coach Doug Woods, who now has 798 victories over his 22-year career.

The opening game was a scoreless tie until the top of the third inning when Saginaw Valley State pushed five runs across the plate. After a Laker fielding error with one out, Jordan Randall doubled to left center, putting two runners on base. After GVSU starter Andrea Nicholson fielded a comebacker to herself in the circle for the second out, Natalie Wellman hit an RBI single for a 1-0 SVSU lead. The next batter, Lindsay Hayward, hit a flyball to right field that Grand Valley State misplayed and dropped, scoring two more runs for the Cardinals. SVSU added a pair of runs later in the inning on two RBI singles to lead 5-0.

GVSU quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Junior Nellie Kosola walked and sophomore Briauna Taylor followed by smashing a two-run home run to left field to bring the Lakers with three runs at 5-2. In the fourth inning (after Nicholson retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the stanza), sophomore Tonya Calkins walked and Santora came into the game to pinch run for Calkins. A single down the left field line from senior Maggie Kerrigan pushed Santora to second base. Two batters later, Taylor rapped a single up the middle, scoring Santora for a 5-3 tally.

Unfortunately, the Laker offense would not get another hit in the game, putting just one runner on base in the final three innings. Saginaw Valley State's starting pitcher Alexa Gehrls, who was strong against GVSU on Friday, threw well again on Saturday. She gave up just three runs on six hits and struck out eight Lakers in the win. Gehrls is 10-5 on the year.

Nicholson deserved a better fate, as she gave up just three base hits outside of the five-run third inning. None of the five Cardinal runs that scored were earned. In fact, she retired 13 of the final 15 batters she faced. For the game, Nicholson (now 12-6 on the year) allowed eight hits in seven innings. She did not walk a batter and struck out three.

Taylor was the lone Laker with more than one hit. She was 2-for-4 with the roundtripper and three RBI.

Game two featured another strong performance from Santora, who pitched a two-hit shutout against the Cardinals on Friday. Santora was so dominant a day earlier than she did not allow a base hit until there were two outs left in the bottom of the fifth inning. GVSU won by an 11-0 mercy rule in five innings of play.

On Saturday, Santora did allow a base hit in the first inning, but the runner was stranded. She received help from Taylor in the second inning, as Taylor turned a 6-3 double play on a sharp grounder to shortstop, erasing the walk to Kailah Happ to start the inning.

Grand Valley State was able to cross two runs over the plate in the top of the third inning despite not recording a base hit. Kerrigan walked and Kosola reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt that went awry for SVSU, as the ball was thrown away and Kosola and Kerrigan were on second and third with nobody out. Taylor then hit a fly ball deep enough to easily score Kerrigan and push Kosola to third base. Two batters later, junior Emily Jones followed suit, also flying out to right field for a sacrifice fly that scored Kosola for a 2-0 Laker advantage.

Santora went 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the third and worked out of a mini-jam in the fourth. After two quick outs in the Lakers' half of the fifth inning, Taylor crushed an offering from Jillian Williamson high over the trees in left field for a solo blast. Taylor's homer, her eighth of the season, made the score 3-0.

It was still 3-0 in the top of the seventh when Taylor reached on a sharp two-out single to left field. Junior Katie Martin followed by hitting her third home run of the season, a two-run blast to left center, and giving Santora some insurance runs. Leading 5-0 in the bottom of the inning, Santora retired the Cardinals in order, preserving the shutout victory.

Santora allowed just three hits and walked two batters in the complete game shutout. In moving to 15-2 on the year (and winning her third straight start of the week), she struck out four batters and recorded 12 flyball outs.

Taylor was again the only Laker with more than two hits, as she was 2-for-3 with a homer, two runs, and two RBI. On the day, she went 4-for-7 with two home runs, three runs scored, and five RBI. She now has eight homers this season, tying her with Erin Burgess (in 2000) for the eighth-most home runs in a season in Laker history. Her 14 career roundtrippers - in only two seasons - puts her in a tie for 10th place in GVSU history with Lisa Preuss (2005-08). Teammate Kayleigh Bertram is in ninth place with 15 blasts.

Saturday's doubleheader puts an end to the Lakers' 10-game homestand, as GVSU heads to Northwood on Tuesday afternoon (Apr. 10). The teams will begin play at 3:30 p.m. in Midland. On Mar. 28, GVSU defeated Northwood by scores of 17-3 and 7-4 on the road.