Game Notes

ALLENDALE,Mich.—The Grand Valley State baseball team gets a start on the 2016 season with a weekend series on the road at Southern Indiana, with games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Lakers are looking to build off of the bittersweet success of last season, having lost out on the GLIAC regular season championship to Ashland, but winning the team's second straight GLIAC Tournament Championship and advancing to the 16^th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
 
Coming off a 34-18 season, GVSU Baseball has experienced a tumultuous roster turnover, and new faces will man the multiple starting positions vacated by graduating seniors and other departures. Just seven fielders and six pitchers with experience from last season for Grand Valley will take the field for the Blue and White this season. Returning starters from last season include catcher Connor Glick, infielder Matt Williams, outfielder, designated hitter Jason Ribecky and first baseman/starting pitcher Josh Griffith, along with starting pitchers Tim Tarter and Zach Anderson.
 
Buoyed by three of the GLIAC's best hitters last season in Kevin Zak, Jamie Potts and Mike Nadratowski, Grand Valley had the second highest scoring offense in the conference in 2015, and the team had a .309 average overall. The trio of Zak, Nadratowski and Potts all ended their careers within the top five in program history in career hits, being ranked first, third and fifth respectively. The Lakers led the conference in doubles with 106, and were second in the GLIAC in home runs, with 26. With that trio gone, as well as other starters, other players will have to step up and produce for the Lakers this season as they feel out their strengths in non-conference play.
Among the returning batters, Glick was the most efficient last season, posting a .368 average, recording 32 hits, smacking three home runs and driving in 15 runs.  He also posted the third best on-base-percentage on the team, at .429 percent.
 
With the departure of starting pitchers Patrick Kelly and Aaron Jensen, the Lakers will turn to three returning starters, Tim Tarter (3-4, 3.92 ERA), Zach Anderson (5-3, 4.31 ERA) and Josh Griffith (2-0, 3.00 ERA) , as well as two transfers, Kyle Lawson and Troy Dyhuis, to make up their rotation. Three relief pitchers (Williams, Ashcraft and Lozen) return from last season's bullpen, which helped GVSU to a 28-2 record when leading after six innings. Among those is Matt Williams, the utility man for GVSU baseball, who tied for the GLIAC lead with 10 saves last season, pitching in 27 games and striking out 36 batters while compiling a 4-2 record and a 2.97 ERA, and will look to build on that performance on the mound this season.
 
Kicking off the new season by traveling to Evansville, Indiana, the Lakers will look to play a three game series with the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana University. GVSU and USI had the same series cancelled last season due to inclement weather, but a mild winter has allowed the season to kick off as planned this season. A matchup with Southern Indiana is a good barometer for the new look Lakers, as the Eagles are picked to finish 2^nd in the Great Lakes Valle Conference East Division, and return senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf, who hit .395 with 14 doubles and 45 runs scored last season.
 
In the all time series, the Screaming Eagles hold a slight edge over the Lakers, 9-5, thanks in part to having won four of the last seven meetings, all of which have been home victories for Southern Indiana.
 
This weekend series is the beginning of a 22 game stretch that Grand Valley will play away from GVSU Baseball Field, including stretches in Indiana, Florida, Missouri and Ohio. Last season, the Lakers were 22-10 in games played on the road or on neutral fields, a better mark than their home record of 12-8. Grand Valley will not play at home until a matchup on April 9^th with Lewis University.