Leesburg, Fla. -- It was a tale of two games for the Grand Valley State baseball team on Saturday (March 7). The No. 16 Lakers split a pair of Midwest Region contests with Drury, posting a 3-0 shutout in game one and dropping a 10-1 decision in game two at Pat Thomas Stadium.
Not much offense was needed in the first half of the doubleheader. In fact, neither team produced a single run after the first inning. With senior starting pitcher
Aaron Jensen dealing, GVSU only required a 3-spot in the opening frame to score a win over the Panthers.
Jensen gave up just five hits and set a new career high for strikeouts—by the third inning—fanning eight batters. The Big Rapids, Michigan native tossed 6.2 innings of shutout baseball to earn a win in his second start of the season.
Tiring and having loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, Jensen, who threw 121 pitches, gave way to sophomore reliever
Matt Williams. The Northern Illinois transfer needed a mere four pitches to strike out the only batter he faced, earning his second save of the year.
The Lakers' three runs in the bottom of the first came from familiar sources:
Jesse Abel,
Jamie Potts and
Kevin Zak.
After senior outfielder
Mike Nadratowski extended his season-opening hitting streak to seven games with a bunt single, Abel reached via fielder's choice. Zak put runners on second and third with a double, one of two he laced in the first game. One pitch later, Potts roped a double to straightaway center field, driving in Abel and Zak. Junior first baseman
Josh Griffith capped the scoring with an RBI single in the following at bat.
Zak's run was his 11
th of the season, a figure that leads the team. He and Potts both finished the first matchup 2-for-3. Freshman catcher
Connor Glick, making his second career start, was the only other Laker to record a hit in the opener.
GVSU's offense never came alive in the nightcap, and the pitching staff could not carry it through another game.
The Lakers did have a chance in the second inning, though. Griffith singled deep in the hole at short, senior third baseman
Aaron Overbeck drew an eight-pitch walk and junior catcher Mark McLaughlin singled through the left side to load the bases with one out. But they left all three runners on base, striking out and lining out to end the frame.
Drury went on to put up three runs in the second, and another in the third.
Glick's first collegiate home run, a solo shot to right center, put GVSU on the board. However, it would be its only score of the evening.
The Panthers continued to get to senior starter
Evan Nietfeldt. A five-run fifth inning knocked Nietfeldt out of the game, handing him his first loss of the year. Drury added its final run in the sixth.
Griffith and Zak each added to their days with a single in the nightcap. Potts blasted a single as well, extending his hitting and on-base streaks to 12 and 25 games, respectively. The Ravenna, Michigan product's current on-base streak is a new career high, surpassing the 23-game run he had as a sophomore.
GVSU falls to 5-3 overall, but still turned in an impressive 4-1 mark against Midwest Region opponents on its Florida trip. The Lakers return to action tomorrow at Florida Southern. First pitch in Lakeland, Florida is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
Notes:-The Lakers all-time record against Drury moves to 4-2
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Jamie Potts is the only Laker with a hit in all eight games this season; his two hits in game one gave him his fourth multi-hit outing of the season
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Mike Nadratowski's season-opening, seven-game hitting streak came to an end in game two of the doubleheader
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Kevin Zak's four doubles this season are tied with Nadratowski for the team lead
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Josh Griffith is one of four Lakers with at least 10 hits this season; his eight RBIs are tied with Potts for the second-most on the team this year
-GVSU's leadoff hitters went 4-for-6 in game one of the doubleheader
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Aaron Jensen's previous career high for strikeouts was five, which he notched on five different occasions; he had seven strikeouts by the end of the third inning on Saturday
