Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Each of the Grand Valley State baseball team's starting hitters reached base, eight recorded a hit and five posted multi-hit outings in a victory over Aquinas. The No. 21 Lakers, who scored at least 10 runs for the fifth time this year, tallied season highs in hits (16), walks (seven) and total bases (24) to come out on the winning side of an 11-7 slugfest at DeWitt Baseball Stadium, located on the campus of Cornerstone University.
 
A slow start threatened to plague GVSU's final game before the start of GLIAC play, but the bats sprung to life in the third inning.
 
Trailing 3-0, and with only two hits to their name, the Lakers erased the deficit in a hurry.
 
First, Back-to-back doubles by senior outfielder Mike Nadratowski and sophomore utility player Matt Williams plated a pair of runs. The rally continued with a walk by redshirt senior second baseman Kevin Zak. Then senior outfielder Jamie Potts loaded the bases with a bunt single down the first base line. Junior first baseman Josh Griffith shot an RBI single up the middle on the very next pitch. A grounder to third by senior third baseman Aaron Overbeck brought in another run.
 
After Overbeck and Griffith moved to third on a wild pitch, junior outfielder Jason Ribecky came up big. The Muskegon, Michigan native belted a ground-rule double over the fence in left center, driving in two more runs. Freshman shortstop Josh Smith, who led off the inning with a walk, brought the frame's seventh run across with a sacrifice bunt down the third base line.
 
GVSU's seven-spot was its highest run total in an inning this season.
 
Ribecky extended the lead in the fifth with his first home run as a Laker. The blast to right center was Ribecky's third hit of the night, giving him his second consecutive multi-hit game. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBIs, a walk and a stolen base.
 
Although senior relief pitcher Kevin Hallberg got into jams in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, the Laker defense made sure no Saints touched home. Hallberg also held Aquinas scoreless in the seventh to round out his four scoreless innings of work.
 
Two more runs in the seventh stretched the lead to seven (10-3).
 
A leadoff double by senior catcher Patrick Bobolts, making his first start since April 13, 2014, got things going. A one-out walk by Nadratowski and indecision by the Saints' second baseman on Williams' grounder loaded the bases for Zak. Williams scored easily on a wild pitch, and Zak smacked a single to right, bringing in Nadratowski.
 
Three Aquinas runs in the eighth made it a game, but the combination of freshman reliever Mitch Ashcraft and Williams shut the door on the comeback try.
 
An RBI single by Nadratowski in the eighth lifted him to a 3-for-5 evening at the dish.

Hallberg earned the win, upping his season record to 2-0, while Williams collected his third save of the year.
 
Zak, the two-time reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week, maintained his .500 batting average with a 2-for-4 performance. The Novi, Michigan product also scored a run and drew a walk. Bobolts went 2-for-4 at the plate, good enough for his first multi-hit game as a Laker. Griffith was 2-for-4 as well.
 
GVSU improved to 8-5 on the year and will enter conference play with a full head of steam. The Lakers are set to begin GLIAC action this Saturday (March 21) and Sunday (March 22) at Ohio Dominican. The two teams are slated for a pair of doubleheaders, each consisting of a 7-inning and 9-inning game.
 
First pitch on Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. ET; Sunday's games are scheduled to start at 12 p.m. ET.

Notes:
-Matt Williams is the first Laker since David Bowman to record a hit and a save in the same game; Bowman pulled off the same feat on March 19, 2006
-Williams is the only Laker since at least 2000 to post a hit, run RBI and save in the same game
-Kevin Zak nothced his team-best eighth multi-hit game of the year and the 75th of his career
-Mike Nadratowski recorded his fourth multi-RBI outing of the season, a figure that trails only Zak
-Jamie Potts' bunt single in the third inning extended his on-base streak to 30 games
-Jason Ribecky is 5-for-7 (.714) with three runs, five RBIs, two doubles, a home run and two walks in his last two starts
-GVSU's five doubles and six extra-base hits both matched its season highs
-It took the 2014 Lakers 19 games to tally five 10-plus-run games; this season's team did it in 13 games
-Monday night was the first meeting in the GVSU-Aquinas series since March 25, 1999