Canton, Ohio – A chance to take the top seed in the GLIAC Tournament came and went for the Grand Valley State baseball team. The No. 13 Lakers split a pair of low-scoring games at Malone, making them the No. 2 seed and setting up a rematch in the league's postseason event.
 
An effective outing by redshirt junior starting pitcher Tim Tarter gave GVSU an opportunity to win the opener. Tarter tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and a walk.
 
But the Lakers managed just three hits during that span. The tide would not turn until the sixth, when they turned a pair of doubles into a run. Redshirt senior shortstop Kevin Zak led off the frame with an extra-base hit. Following a pair of infield popups, sophomore utility player Matt Williams plated Zak with a double to left.
 
After senior reliever Kevin Hallberg stifled the Pioneers in the bottom half, the Lakers tacked on four runs via three hits and three errors in their final at bat.
 
Junior first baseman Josh Griffith reached on an error to get things going. A sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Mitchell Kozlowski led to a one-out intentional walk for senior outfielder Mike Nadratowski. With two aboard, senior second baseman Jesse Abel drove in both runners on a double to left center. Another throwing error extended the rally, and a safety squeeze by senior outfielder Jamie Potts brought the third run of the inning across. Although Potts was caught stealing shortly thereafter, Zak scored from third on the throw down to second base.
 
Williams surrendered a run in the seventh, though it was the only one Malone tallied.
 
Tarter picked up the win in the 5-1 victory to get to 2-4 on the year. Williams, Zak and senior third baseman Aaron Overbeck all went 2-for-4 at the dish. The club's top three hitters—Nadratowski, Abel and Zak—combined for four runs.
 
In the nightcap, redshirt freshman starter Tyler Lozen went four innings and gave up three runs on six hits and two walks. Unfortunately, the Lakers could not muster any run support in a 3-0 loss.
 
Hallberg hurled three scoreless innings of relief, while Williams threw a perfect frame in the eighth.
 
GVSU notched a pair of hits in the second and third innings, but were unable to get a runner in. Kozlowski, Nadratowski, Overbeck, Williams, Zak and junior catcher John McLaughlin recorded a hit apiece in the setback.
 
With the split, GVSU finishes the 2015 regular season with a 30-16 overall record and a 21-11 mark in league play.
 
The Lakers will square off with Malone in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament on Thursday (May 7) at 10:30 a.m. EDT in Xenia, Ohio.