Findlay, Ohio - After topping Northwood in a 2-1 pitcher's duel on Friday morning (May 2) at the GLIAC Tournament, Grand Valley State's bats heated up and the Lakers took down Findlay by a 8-4 final on Friday night. GVSU, the fourth seed in the tournament, will face second-seeded Wayne State at noon on Saturday, with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship game.
With a pair of wins on Friday, the Lakers improve to 29-10 on the season. Grand Valley State entered the tournament as the fourth seed in the conference and the fifth seed in the Midwest Region. Findlay, who knocked off top seed Ohio Dominican earlier in the day, drops to 23-18 overall.
The Oilers struck in the top of the first inning, taking a 2-0 lead on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch. GVSU responded, however, with three runs of its own. Freshmen Jenna Lenza and Kelsey Dominguez walked to lead off the inning and senior Miranda Cleary walked to load the bases with one out. The first run came in on a McKenze Supernaw infield single and the Lakers took a 3-2 lead when Tonya Calkins blooped a single to right center field, scoring Dominguez and Cleary.
Grand Valley State struck for three more runs in the second inning. Senior Brittany Taylor led off with a triple over the centerfielder's head and later scored on a Dominguez opposite field RBI single. That was followed by another triple - this time by Briauna Taylor - to left center that brought Dominguez across the plate. Cleary then delivered a run-scoring single to score Taylor and up the lead to 6-2.
Both teams tacked on a run in the third inning. Leading 6-3, Brittany Taylor singled with two outs and stole second base. On the very next pitch, Lenza singled back up the middle, driving in Taylor for a 7-3 advantage.
It was a 7-4 lead when Briauna Taylor drove in Brittany Taylor with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for the game's final run. Brittany went 3-for-3 with a triple, a pair of stolen bases, and scored three runs, as Briauna added a pair of RBI. Cleary and Lenza both went 2-for-3, while Calkins picked up a pair of ribbies.
Sophomore Sara Andrasik pitched well enough for the win, moving to 12-6 on the year. She allowed four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings. Junior Lauren Gevaart, who picked up the win over Northwood, tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit relief, earning her first collegiate save. She struck out the four of the first five batters she faced.
Saturday's contest between GVSU and Wayne State is a rematch of last season's GLIAC Championship. The Warriors needed to defeat Grand Valley State twice in a row to win the league tournament title and WSU did so, by scores of 1-0 and 5-0. When the teams met on Apr. 11 in Allendale, the Lakers swept the doubleheader, 6-2 and 8-2. Those are the last losses for Wayne State, winners of 14 straight games.
