Grand Valley State split a pair of 5-0 decisions on Monday night (Mar. 7) at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. The Lakers shut out their second straight opponent with a 5-0 victory over in-region foe Quincy, but Minnesota Duluth got the best of GVSU with a 5-0 win in the nightcap.

The split gives the Lakers their first loss of the season, as their season-opening seven-game win streak was snapped against Minnesota Duluth. Grand Valley State is now 7-1 on the season and has another day of games on Tuesday (Mar. 8), when the Lakers face Southern Indiana at 11:00 a.m. and Saint Rose at 3:00 p.m.

Freshman pitcher Allison Lipovsky was nearly unhittable in the earlier win on Monday night against Quincy (5-6). The newcomer allowed just a first inning single and a fifth inning bunt single during the complete game victory. Lipovsky moved to 3-0 in the two-hit shutout, walking just one batter and notching 12 strikeouts. She notched nine K's in relief of a 7-5 win over Illinois-Springfield in her collegiate debut on Feb. 26.

Lipovsky received a pair of first-inning run support, as the Lakers pushed two runs across in their first at-bat. Senior McKenze Supernaw and freshman Shannon Flaherty each delivered RBI singles to score juniors Kelsey Dominguez (single) and Jenna Lenza (walk) and give GVSU a 2-0 lead.

The score moved to 3-0 when junior Ellie Balbach smacked a leadoff double in the third inning. Two batters later, sophomore Teagan Shomin brought Balbach in with a two-bagger of her own, a run-scoring double to right center to up the advantage to 3-0. A Dominguez RBI single in the sixth inning scored Shomin, who started the frame by reaching on an error.

GVSU's 4-0 lead moved to a five-run cushion when Flaherty's sacrifice fly scored pinch runner Tanner Kiessel. That was more than enough run support for Lipovsky, who notched 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, and fourth frames. She retired 11 straight batters before the fifth inning bunt single. Lipovsky earned the last out of the game on a looking strikeout with two runners on base in the seventh. 75 of her 105 pitches in the game went for strikes. In three appearances this season, Lipovsky has totaled 23 strikeouts and just three walks, with a perfect 0.00 ERA.

Dominguez and Balbach each went 2-for-4, with Balbach and Shomin both tallying a double. Flaherty drove in a pair of runs for the Lakers, who outhit Quincy by a 9-2 margin.

Grand Valley State equaled Minnesota Duluth in the hits column (both had four), but the Bulldogs strung together enough runners to plate five runs in the middle innings off of Balbach, the Laker lefty starter.

UMD (4-5) took a 1-0 lead with a leadoff double and the help of a Laker error in the third inning. The Bulldogs collected their other three hits in the fourth and fifth innings, when they scored two runs in each frame.

Balbach retired eight of the last nine batters she faced, but the GVSU offense was stymied by Minnesota Duluth's Sam Hartmann (2-2). The Bulldog hurler recorded 13 groundball outs in the complete game win, walking one and striking out four. Balbach (1-1) allowed four earned runs on four hits in seven innings in the circle, as she walked two batters and tallied five strikeouts. She forced 12 UMD groundouts.

At the plate, Balbach led the Lakers with a 2-for-3 outing, while Lenza and sophomore Kaylie Rhynard also tallying a base hit. Seven of the eight hits combined between the teams were singles; UMD also recorded a double.