Auburndale, Fla. -- Thursday (March 5) was a tough day for the Grand Valley State baseball team. The No. 16 Lakers rallied from late-inning deficits—twice—but were unable to close out No. 17 Minnesota State on either occasion, dropping a pair of 7-inning games at Lake Myrtle Park.
 
In game one of the doubleheader, GVSU trailed 3-1 entering the top of the fifth inning. With just four hits to their name, the Lakers were struggling to find their groove.
 
The funk-ending hit came from an unlikely source: junior outfielder Taylor Huebner, who was hitless in his previous seven at bats. Huebner led off the frame with a double to center field, which freshman catcher Connor Glick, starting for the first time, followed up with a walk. One batter later, senior outfielder Mike Nadratowski dropped a single into left field, loading the bases for a pinch-hitting Jason Ribecky.
 
Although the Muskegon Community College transfer grounded out, his chopper down the first base line was deep enough to bring Huebner, and for his first RBI as a Laker.
 
Minnesota State restored its two-run edge by plating a run in the sixth. But GVSU's clutch hitting would come through yet again in the seventh inning.
 
Glick started the rally with his second walk of the day. Then sophomore utility player Matt Williams, appearing in the GVSU batting order for the first time, belted his second double of the afternoon. This one was deep enough to score Glick all the way from first. Next, Nadratowski, swinging the hottest bat of any Laker at the moment, blasted a two-run home run over the fence in right center.
 
GVSU's next three hitters would go down in order, but it held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom half of the seventh.
 
Williams came on for his second save of the year. It was not to be on this day, however. The Geneva, Illinois native came within an out of recording the save, only to watch a walk-off three-run homer swiftly leave the park.
 
The 7-5 loss was the Lakers' first of the 2015 season.
 
Things played out nearly the same in the second game. Down 3-0 entering the bottom of the third, GVSU found itself in need of a rally once again.
 
With two outs and senior Mitchell Kozlowski—the starting third baseman for game two—already aboard, freshman infielder Josh Smith singled to keep the inning alive for redshirt senior shortstop Kevin Zak. It took just one swing of the bat for Zak to tie the game, as he lifted a three-run bomb to left field.
 
The Mavericks would not stay down for long, though. They posted a four-run fifth inning to take what felt like a commanding 7-3 edge.
 
As it has in every game to this point, GVSU's bats rose to the occasion.

Nadratowski sandwiched an infield single in between walks by Kozlowski and Smith to load the bases in the bottom of the frame. One run came in on Zak's single to right. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from senior outfielder Jamie Potts and junior Josh Griffith plated two more. Williams extended the rally with a single, his third hit of the doubleheader, and senior third baseman Aaron Overbeck drew a walk to load the bases again.
 
Then came the club's biggest hit of the day. Senior Jesse Abel drove a double off the fence in center field, clearing the bases and giving the Lakers a 9-7 lead heading into the seventh.
 
But Minnesota State solved the GVSU bullpen again, tallying six runs on five hits and a pair of Laker errors to grab a 13-9 advantage. A two-out single from Abel in the bottom half brought in the final run of the 13-10 setback.

Nadratowski's final numbers were quite impressive. The Canton, Michigan product finished 5-for-6 with two runs, three RBIs and a walk in the doubleheader. Abel and Zak each matched their career highs with four RBIs apiece in game two.
 
Both Laker starting pitchers received no decisions. Griffith got the nod in game one, surrendering four runs (only one earned) and nine hits in six innings of work. Redshirt junior Tim Tarter made his GVSU debut in game two, yielding seven runs (two earned) in five innings.
 
The Lakers (3-2) will look to bounce back against Midwest Region foe Lewis on Friday (March 6) morning. First pitch at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Florida is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET.

Notes:
-This is the third consecutive season in which Mike Nadratowski has opened the season on a five-game hitting streak; his 10 hits, four doubles, 17 total bases, .588 batting average, .682 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage are all team highs
-Jamie Potts is the only Laker besides Nadratowski to record at least one hit in each of GVSU's first five games; his active hitting and on-base streaks now stand at nine and 22 games, respectively
-Kevin Zak now leads the Lakers with two home runs and eight RBIs this season
-GVSU tallied nine two-out hits in its two games against the Mavericks, bringing its season total to 20; the Lakers were 7-for-13 with seven RBIs in at bats with two outs in game two of the doubleheader
-Game two marked just the second time in the last 18 games the Lakers posted a big inning (five or more runs) and lost
-Of the 20 runs GVSU surrendered in the doubleheader, only six were earned runs