May 2, 2012
Game One Box Score (7-2 W)
Game Two Box Score (9-6 W)
Midland, Mich. - The 10th-ranked Grand Valley State baseball team began its six-game road trip on Wednesday (May 2), sweeping both games from Northwood. The Lakers took game one 7-2, then came from behind in game two with a huge sixth inning to win 9-6.
In game one, the Lakers scored single runs in the second, third and fourth to take the lead, putting senior Kyle Schepel's (Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian) stellar outing to good use.
In the second, senior Derrik Strzalkowski (London, Ont./Kellogg C.C.) was hit by a pitch with one, then went to third on a single by junior Chris Rudenga (South Holland, Ill./Illiana Christian). Junior Stephen Claypool (Carleton, Mich./Ball State) then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to allow Strzalkowski to score, staking the Lakers to a 1-0 lead.
In the third, senior Brian Robinson (Troy, Mich.) and redshirt freshman Kevin Zak (Novi, Mich.) led off the frame with singles, putting runners at the corners for another sacrifice fly, this time from senior Steve Anderson (Northville, Mich.)
Rudenga and Claypool had consecutive one-out singles in the top of the fourth to put runners at the corners and this time it was a sacrifice bunt that brought in the third run. Freshman Mike Nadratowski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth) executed the squeeze play back to the pitcher, allowing Rudenga to score and make it 3-0.
Northwood's biggest threat came in the bottom of the second when the Timberwolves were able to put two runners on with nobody out, but Schepel worked himself out of trouble without allowing a run.
The Timberwolves wouldn't go lightly, hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 3-2 game after the lead-off hitter reached on the third Laker error of the game. Schepel was able to get the next three outs to send the game to the seventh holding the lead.
GVSU got those runs back and more in the top of the seventh, pushing four insurance runs across. The Lakers had five hits in the inning, including RBI singles from Zak and Rudenga. GVSU took a 7-2 lead to the bottom of the seventh, where Schepel finished the game off.
Schepel (9-3) earned the victory, going all seven innings and allowing only three hits and one earned run, tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts, the third time he has punched out 10 in a game this year. It was also the first start this season in which Schepel did not surrender a walk. Schepel now sits only 3.1 innings away from tying the career innings pitched record at GVSU (Joe Jablonski; 2008-11).
Rudenga led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, RBI and a stolen base. Nadratowski, Robinson and Zak each had two hits with Zak and Nadratowski also driving one in. Robinson scored twice and stole a base, his first of the year.
GVSU got on the board first in the second game, exacting some revenge on Northwood starter Mark Heard, who held the Lakers to only one hit through six innings in their first series of the season back on April 11th. Sophomore Giancarlo Brugnoni (Grosse Pointe, Mich./De La Salle) had a two-out RBI single in the frame that scored Zak to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Northwood quickly took the lead themselves with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the first.
The Lakers were able to tie the game at two in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from senior Zach Laupp (Mattawan, Mich.) that scored Rudenga.
Again, however, the Timberwolves were able to double GVSU up in the bottom half of the same inning, pushing two more runs across with two RBI singles to take a 4-2 lead.
The sixth inning, which the Lakers have scored more runs in than any other inning, proved to be the spark that GVSU needed. After Northwood was able to get two outs with only four pitches to start the top of the sixth, GVSU went on a barrage. Laupp singled and freshman Lance Buitendyk (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic) drew a pinch-hit walk. Nadratowski then singled home Laupp to cut the lead to 4-3.
After a Northwood pitching change, Robinson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Zak then hit a ball to third base after a nine-pitch at-bat that contained five straight foul balls resulted in an error that allowed Zak to go to second and two runs to score, giving the Lakers a 5-4 lead. Anderson walked on four straight pitches to load the bases again and Brugnoni drew a five-pitch walk to bring home another run, making it a 6-4 game. Rudenga's two-RBI single to center field made it an 8-4 game before Northwood could stop the bleeding.
Zak added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly that scored Nadratowski to make it 9-4 and while Northwood scored two in the bottom of the seventh, partly due to a GVSU error, the Lakers were able to nail down the victory by a final score of 9-6.
Senior Cory Rademacher (DeWitt, Mich.) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief in the fifth on only seven pitches, his first win of the year. Senior starter Ryan Garman (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Johnson County C.C.) went four innings, striking out six.
Five Lakers had two hits in the game, including Brugnoni going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Laupp went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Nadratowski finished 2-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and his 17th stolen base of the season. Rudenga also had two RBI in the game and Robinson finished 2-for-3, his third straight two-hit game.
GVSU moves to 34-12 on the year with the sweep, including a 24-8 record in the GLIAC that gives the Lakers a three-game lead in the conference with only four games to play. Northwood falls to 19-26 overall with an 8-24 mark in the conference.
The Lakers will get started on their last regular season series on Saturday (May 5) when they head to Ohio Dominican for the first two games of a four-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
