For the second time during the team's Spring Break trip to Clermont, Fla., Grand Valley State captured a big win over a 2015 NCAA Tournament team - and the Lakers clinched the sweep on Thursday (Mar. 10) with another win over an in-region opponent. GVSU defeated Trevecca Nazarene by a 4-3 score on Thursday morning before earning a 9-4 victory over Saint Joseph's.
 
The Lakers won their first seven games in 2016 before a brief hiccup on Monday against Minnesota-Duluth. Since then, GVSU has won its last four games (two by one-run margins) to move to 11-1 overall. On Tuesday, the Lakers held off Southern Indiana - a team Grand Valley State lost to in last season's NCAA Tournament - by a 3-2 score. Thursday's 4-3 victory came over a Trevecca Nazarene team that was also in the Midwest Region Tournament last season and went 40-10 a year ago.
 
After freshman righty Allison Lipovsky struck out the side in TNU's half of the first inning, the Lakers rewarded Lipovsky with two runs in the top of the second. Junior Jenna Lenza and sophomore Teagan Shomin opened the frame with back-to-back walks. Freshman Shannon Flaherty immediately followed with a triple down the right field line to score both Lenza and Shomin for a 2-0 Laker lead.
 
Lipovsky struck out two more batters in a 1-2-3 second inning. GVSU added another run in the fourth inning on consecutive doubles from freshman Rachel Terwilliger and senior Chelsea Horvath. Terwilliger's run made it 3-0 in GVSU's favor. The lead grew to 4-0 when sophomore Kaylie Rhynard scored on a Trevecca Nazarene error when junior Kelsey Dominguez lifted a flyball to right field.
 
The Lakers took the 4-0 advantage to the seventh inning. At that point, Trevecca Nazarene (6-9) had recorded just one base hit off of Lipovsky, but used a two-out, two-run single to cut the score to 4-3. With the tying runner on second base, Lipovsky forced an infield popup to end the game.
 
Moving to 5-0 on the season, Lipovsky allowed the first runs of her Laker career. She gave up three runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out 11. The rookie tossed 116 pitches in the complete game victory.

Both teams had just four hits, but all four of GVSU's hits were for extra bases. Terwilliger, Horvath, and senior McKenze Supernaw all had a double, while Flaherty brought in two runs with her triple. Rhynard walked three times and Shomin earned a pair of free passes.
 
Flaherty came up clutch early against Saint Joseph's (2-12), as well. With the Lakers ahead 1-0 on a Lenza RBI double, Flaherty again tripled - this time to right center - to score Lenza and junior Ellie Balbach, who reached on an error. At the end of the first inning, the Lakers led 3-0.

Dominguez added a run-scoring single in the second inning to score junior Marianne Deppe, who reached on a one-out single. Saint Joseph's would push across a pair of unearned runs in third stanza against senior Sara Andrasik and make it a 4-3 game in the fifth inning.
 
After seeing their deficit cut to a run, the Lakers responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Horvath delivered a two-out, two-run single after a pair of SJC errors to score Flaherty and Lenza and give GVSU a 6-3 advantage. The Lakers blew the game open in the sixth inning, when Balbach drilled a two-run double to right center field, bringing in Supernaw and Dominguez. Junior Ali Vander Meer pinch ran for Balbach and scored on an RBI single from Flaherty to put Grand Valley State in front, 9-3.
 
Balbach relieved Andrasik in the top of the sixth inning and though Saint Joseph's did score a run in the seventh, her two innings of relief were enough to earn Balbach a save. She allowed one unearned run on two hits in two innings for her first save. Andrasik moved to 3-0 on the season, as she gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits in five innings. She walked four batters, but struck out six Pumas.
 
Dominguez, Lenza, and Flaherty all recorded two hits, while Flaherty (three), Balbach and Horvath (two apiece) drove in multiple runs. Both of Lenza's hits were doubles and she scored twice, while Dominguez also crossed home plate two times.
 
At 7-1 in Florida, Grand Valley State is back in action on Friday (Mar. 11). The Lakers face #21 West Chester at 9:00 a.m. before taking on Slippery Rock at 1:00 p.m.