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Grand Valley State tallied more hits and more baserunners than Walsh in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament on Friday morning (May 1), but the Cavaliers escaped with a 2-1 victory in Findlay, Ohio. The Lakers trailed 2-0 in the sixth inning, cut the deficit in half, but were unable to finish off the rally in their final at-bat.

With the loss, GVSU (31-14) drops to the loser's bracket, while Walsh (23-14) advances in the winner's bracket. In the other opening round game, Wayne State topped Tiffin by a 5-3 score. The Lakers will now face Tiffin at 2:00 p.m. in an elimination game.

It was the 30th GLIAC Tournament appearance for Grand Valley State, but the first time the Lakers have squared off with Walsh - new to the GLIAC a few seasons ago - in league tournament play. GVSU is the fourth seed in the conference, while the Cavaliers are the fifth seed.

Both pitchers on Friday were terrific. Freshman Courtney Reinhold, named an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selection after the game, allowed two runs on six hits. She walked two batters and struck out five, as her record drops to 13-6 on the season. Walsh's Casi Rohr - a First Team All-GLIAC honoree - gave up one run on eight hits to improve to 17-8 overall. She walked three batters, but recorded nine strikeouts.

The Lakers had a number of scoring chances in the game, as GVSU left a runner on base in all seven innings - 11 total batters left on base for the game. 

Reinhold went 1-2-3 in the first inning and worked around a one-out single in the second frame. She gave up a two-out double in the third inning, but fielded a comebacker in the circle to end that threat.

Walsh struck first in the top of the fourth inning. On the first pitch of the inning, first baseman Marissa Bondoni drilled a pitch down the left field line that snuck inside the foul pole for a leadoff solo home run. Reinhold responded by getting the next six batters out in the fourth and fifth frames.

Junior Chelsea Horvath led off the second inning with a double, moved to third base with two outs, but was unable to score. Sophomore Kelsey Dominguez opened the third inning with her second walk of the game, but was unfortunately stranded at seconed base to end the inning.

In the fourth inning, Horvath again led off with a hit - this time a single to left field. The Lakers loaded the bases with one out on a bunt single from freshman Kaylie Rhynard and a bloop single from sophomore Janae Langs. However, Rohr - third in the league in strikeouts - fanned the next two GVSU batters to halt the threat.

Walsh moved ahead 2-0 on a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the frame, Rhynard singled to left field with one out, then proceeded to steal second. Langs ripped a sharp single to left field, bringing in Rhynard and moving to second base on the throw home. As the tying run on second, Langs never moved as Rohr registered back-to-back outs to get out of the inning.

Sophomore Jenna Lenza opened the seventh with a walk, but was retired on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Junior Ellie Balbach drove a deep fly to left field, but the Walsh outfielder made a diving catch, preventing the possible game-tying run from scoring.

GVSU owned an 8-6 advantage in the hit column, as Horvath, Rhynard, and Langs all recorded two hits apiece. Horvath and Balbach each smacked a double.

The Lakers will have to bounce back quickly against Tiffin later Friday afternoon. On Apr. 12 in Allendale, the teams split a doubleheader, with Tiffin winning the opener (2-0) before GVSU routed the Dragons in the nightcap, 9-0.