FINDLAY, Ohio— The Grand Valley State baseball team used strong pitching and good defense to stymie the Oilers of the University of Findlay in a pair of matchups, winning 2-1 in the first game and 4-1 in the second.
Despite offense being at somewhat of a premium, the Lakers (22-12-1) didn't need much on Saturday to defeat the Oilers (13-20).
In the first game, the Lakers got the scoring started in the top of the third inning. After
Matt Williams walked with one out,
Anthony Villar was hit by a pitch, which moved Williams to second. After Williams advanced to third on a fielder's choice, he was able to score immediately afterwards on a wild pitch by the Oiler pitcher.
Findlay would score a run back in the bottom of the inning off of Laker starter
Josh Griffith (2-3), which would be the only run the home squad would score in the game. Griffith pitched six strong innings in earning the decision, allowing six hits, walking three and striking out seven.
GVSU would score the go-ahead run after a one out single by catcher
Connor Glick. After getting aboard with the base knock to right center, Glick swiped second base. The next batter,
Seth Johnson, doubled to left center to plate Glick and put the Lakers up for good. The Lakers would go on to win by the 2-1 margin, as closer
Matt Williams earned his 12
th save of the season with a scoreless seventh inning.
Both Johnson and Glick finished the game with a pair of hits, with Johnson driving in Glick for the game winning run.
In the second game, the Lakers scored a run in the first frame, after
Anthony Villar singled to left field to score
Jason Ribecky.
The Oilers would tie the game up in the third inning, 1-1 off of an RBI double, but the tie would not last long, as the Lakers added a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take the lead. Glick led off the inning with a double, and came home to score after an Oiler error. Johnson then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by
Keith Browning, and Johnson scored on an RBI single by
Josh Smith to put the Lakers up 3-1.
Grand Valley State would add a fourth run in the sixth inning as insurance. Smith tripled down the left field line with one out, and came around to score on a single by
Johnny Nate. That got the score of the game to 4-1, and was all the lead that
Matt Williams needed to close down the Oilers in the ninth inning for his 13
th save of the season.
Kyle Lawson (7-2) earned the win on the mound, tossing eight strong innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits, walking three and striking out six.
Smith and Villar both had a pair of hits and an RBI apiece, while Nate had an RBI.
The two teams will play another doubleheader on Sunday in Findlay, set for a 1:00 p.m. start.
