April 1, 2014
Box Score
TIFFIN, Ohio - The 17th-ranked Grand Valley State baseball team took a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth on a go-ahead homer, but Tiffin rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 9-8 victory in the series finale on Tuesday (Apr. 1).
The loss drops the Lakers to 16-7 overall with a 7-2 record in the GLIAC, while Tiffin is now 6-20 overall with a 5-4 mark in the conference.
GVSU will return to the friendly confines of West Michigan this weekend, as the Lakers are slated to take on Ohio Dominican in a three-game set beginning with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Apr. 5), currently scheduled to be played at the GVSU Baseball Field.
After splitting the first two games of the series on Monday, the same two teams took part in a nine-inning contest on Tuesday, with Tiffin jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third with three doubles in the inning.
The Lakers drew even in the top of the fifth with an RBI single from Kevin Zak and a fielder's choice RBI from Giancarlo Brugnoni.
GVSU took the lead, 3-2, with a lead-off home run from Aaron Overbeck in the top of the sixth.
The Dragons were able to respond in the bottom half of the inning, getting two doubles, a single and a two-RBI triple to push across three runs and jump back out front, 5-3.
The back-and-forth contest continued in the top of the seventh as the Lakers tied the game with two runs. After loading the bases with one out, an error and a bases loaded walk tied the game at five.
Tiffin took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly, entering the eighth inning with a 6-5 lead.
In the eighth, Brugnoni, who has had great success against Tiffin over his career, kept that going, hitting a two-run bomb over the right-center field fence after a Zak double, giving the Lakers a 7-6 lead.
After a scoreless bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, Tiffin was able to battle back one more time in the bottom of the ninth. After the first two batters were retired, a hit by pitch put the tying run on. A single moved him to second and a Laker error allowed the tying run to cross the plate and keep the inning going. The next batter took advantage, hitting a single in to left field to bring home the game-winning run for the 8-7 victory.
Jesse Abel, Zak and Jamie Potts each had two hits and scored once in the contest, while Zak also drove a run in and had a double. Brugnoni was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, a walk and a home run, his seventh of the year. Overbeck and Stuart Eisler each had one hit, a run, RBI and drew two walks, with Overbeck's run and RBI coming off his second long ball of the season.
