After earning a solid road sweep at Findlay on Friday (Apr. 24), the Grand Valley State softball team pitched its way to another sweep at Hillsdale on Saturday (Apr. 25). The Lakers notched a 9-1 mercy rule victory in the opener before blanking the Chargers by a 2-0 score in game two.
 
GVSU has put together a nice five-game winning streak to close out the regular season, as the GLIAC Tournament begins next Friday (May 1) in Findlay, Ohio. The Lakers (31-13 overall, 17-8 GLIAC) do not know their seed for next week's tournament, as there are a number of make-up games to be played on Sunday. Currently, Grand Valley State sits in fourth place in the league standings.
 
After Saturday's twinbill, Hillsdale is 23-21 overall and 14-12 in conference play.
 
While the Lakers did score a run in four of the five innings in game one, junior Sara Andrasik shut down the Hillsdale offense. The righthander gave up just one run on three base hits. She did walk a career-high eight batters, but struck out three Chargers and moved to 11-6 on the season.
 
Freshman Courtney Reinhold followed in Andrasik's footsteps in game two. The rookie righty tossed a six-hit complete game shutout, while recording one walk and two strikeouts. Improving to 13-5 on the season, Reinhold gave up just two hits through the first five innings. It is Reinhold's fourth shutout of the season and first since a 9-0 win over Tiffin on Apr. 12.
 
GVSU's offense was more about small ball and timely hitting on Saturday, as 14 of the team's 18 hits in the twinbill were singles; the other four were doubles. The team plated three runs in the opening inning of game one, as junior McKenze Supernaw smacked a two-run double to score freshman Teagan Shomin (walk) and sophomore Jenna Lenza (single) to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead. An RBI single from freshman Heather Sperlazzo brought in Supernaw for a 3-0 advantage.

Sperlazzo struck again in the third inning, driving in a pair of runs with a two-out single to right center field, as both Lenza and junior Chelsea Horvath came across on the base hit. Shomin's RBI single in the fourth scored sophomore Janae Langs to push the Laker cushion out to 6-0.

Langs, Shomin, and sophomore Kelsey Dominguez all collected an RBI in the fifth inning, with Langs and Dominguez each doing so with a double. Andrasik closed the game with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, evoking the mercy rule. She allowed just three singles and stranded nine Hillsdale runners on base.

Sperlazzo went 3-for-3 with three RBI and Lenza was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Langs doubled among her two hits and scored twice, while Shomin and Supernaw each notched two RBI. 

Game two was scoreless into the third inning, when GVSU struck first. Freshman Kaylie Rhynard led off the third with a bunt single. She then stole second base and with one out, Shomin walked to put two runners on for Dominguez. She notched a run-scoring single to left center, as Rhynard raced around to put the Lakers on top, 1-0.

The small-ball continued in the sixth inning. Lenza led off with a four-pitch walk, then moved to second base as Supernaw - the team's cleanup hitter - put down a sacrifice bunt to advanced Lenza. Two batters later, Horvath doubled to left center, driving in Lenza for the game's other run. 

Reinhold gave up a two-out double in the first inning and a one-out single in the fourth inning, but faced few problems until the late innings. Hillsdale collected back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth, but Reinhold got out of trouble with a flyball. And with two runners on base in the seventh, she used a groundball to end the threat and the game.

Horvath was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Rhynard went 2-for-2 and scored a run. The duo combined for four of GVSU's five hits.

GVSU's 31 wins tops last season's total of 30 victories. Next weekend's GLIAC Tournament pairings will be released by Monday morning, however the Lakers are guaranteed to play twice next Friday in Findlay.