Live Stats

Grand Valley State opened up GLIAC play last weekend in Ohio and already the Lakers play one of their toughest opponents of the season, as GVSU travels to Detroit on Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 29). The Lakers will take on conference rival Wayne State at 3:30 p.m. on the #18 Warriors home field in an important league doubleheader.

After the opening weekend, there are five GLIAC teams that have either no losses or one loss, with GVSU and Wayne State making up two of those squads. The Warriors are 25-4 overall and 4-0 in conference play, while Grand Valley State is 18-4 on the season and 3-1 in league action. This is the only regular season meeting between the schools.

The Lakers played their first full week of games since returning from the Spring Break trip to Clermont, Fla. in early March. After topping Lewis 4-0 in a non-conference game last Tuesday, Grand Valley State played five consecutive one-run games, winning the last three of those nailbiters. GVSU fell in the GLIAC opener by a 6-5 score at Ashland last Friday before topping the Eagles in game two, 4-3. On Saturday, the Lakers were victorious over Lake Erie 5-4 in 10 innings and 3-2, with both games featuring clutch hits late in each contest.

In the 10th inning of game one against the Storm, sophomore Teagan Shomin reached on an error to lead off the frame and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Junior Jenna Lenza doubled to left center to score Shomin and senior pitcher Sara Andrasik closed the ballgame in the bottom of the 10th. Game two ended in a walkoff for GVSU, as sophomore Kaylie Rhynard notched a walk-off single to score freshman Rachel Terwilliger, who opened the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk, stole second, and moved to third on a sacrifice. 

Grand Valley State is now 7-2 in one-run games, but the Lakers are are also 7-1 when the final margin is more than five runs.

Offensively, GVSU ranks fourth or fifth in most major categories, while the team is fourth in batting average (.299), fifth in on-base percentage (.364), and slugging percentage (.424). The team's ERA of 2.04 is fifth-best in the conference.

Rhynard leads the Lakers with a .392 on-base percentage, 17 runs scored, and nine stolen bases, while posting 29 base hits, second-most on the team. Junior Ellie Balbach is hitting .388 with three home runs, a GLIAC-best 11 doubles, three homers, and 23 RBI, the fifth-most of any player. Her 51 total bases is fourth-best in the conference.

Junior Kelsey Dominguez (.313.) and Shomin (.300) are both hitting above the .300 mark, while Lenza is hitting .297, but also has a GLIAC-best 17 walks this season. In addition to Rhynard's 17 runs, Shomin and Lenza have scored 16 and 15 runs, respectively.

The Lakers have a pair of pitchers with six wins apiece, as Andrasik is 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA, while freshman Allison Lipovsky is 6-0 and a miniscule 0.91 earned run average. Both righthanders have a save and Andrasik has pitched 46.2 innings, while Lipovsky has thrown 46.1 innings.

Wayne State has won six straight games since falling to Merrimack by a 1-0 score on Mar. 18. The Warriors defeated Walsh (6-1, 9-1) and Malone (13-0, 4-1) to begin conference play last weekend in Ohio. In the GLIAC preseason poll, Wayne State was chosen to repeat as conference champion, while GVSU was selected to finish fourth despite having the second-most first-place votes in the poll.

WSU is led by junior pitcher Lyndsay Butler, who is the GLIAC leader in wins (15), ERA (0.34), strikeouts (126), shutouts (five), and innings pitched (103.2). She is just as impressive of a hitter, as Butler ranks first in the conference in hits (44), runs (28), triples (five), and total bases (78), while hitting .449, fifth-highest in the league. 

As a team, Wayne State leads the league in batting average (.347), earned run average (1.10), and fielding percentage (.974).

The Lakers are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference doubleheader at Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Thursday afternoon. GVSU will then return home for four doubleheaders in Allendale next week against Ferris State, Northwood, Findlay, and Hillsdale.