Live Stats l  Game Notes  l Live Audio 

XENIA, Ohio—The Grand Valley State baseball team will open the 2016 GLIAC Tournament against the No.6 seed Hillsdale Chargers on Thursday, a team they swept in a four game series at home recently. Hillsdale was just one team that the Lakers bested in GLIAC play on their way to becoming GLIAC regular season Co-Champions and earning the number one seed in this weekend's conference tournament, held at Athletes in Actin Sports Complex in Xenia, Ohio.
 
A link to live stats for the game can be found above, as well as game notes for the matchup and a link to listen in live to all the tournament games. Scott Miles, sports information director at Ohio Dominican University, will be calling the action all weekend for the second year in a row.
 
Thursday's matchup with Hillsdale will be the second game of the day, as the 2:00 p.m. first pitch will follow the 10:30 game between No.2 Ashland and No. Walsh. GVSU owns the all-time series advantage  with each team participating in the tournament, but has dominated Hillsdale throughout the series, leading by a hefty 125-37 margin, including a 4-0 record this season. The Chargers find themselves in the midst of a very successful season in their own right, having collected a program high number of wins (30). In addition, the Chargers lead the GLIAC in a bevy of offensive categories, including runs (398), hits (559), batting average (.330), home runs (62) and on-base percentage (.410).
 
Leading the charge for Hillsdale is Luke Ortel, the GLIAC Player of the Year. The versatile center fielder leads the GLIAC in average (.380), triples (8) and stolen bases (28), and is a big catalyst for the Chargers successful 2016 campaign.  Also providing a boost for Hillsdale is left fielder Tad Sobiezczanski, who has 64 hits on the season, including 10 home runs. Sobiezczanski homered twice in the series sweep against the Lakers in Allendale earlier this season, and along with Ortel was one of the more difficult outs for the Lakers to get.
 
Despite the efforts of Sobiezczanski and Ortel, the Chargers vaunted offense came up short against the Lakers, scoring less than four runs in each of the weekends contests. Strong pitching from the Lakers limited the damage done by the best offense in the GLIAC.
 
Strong pitching has been the calling card of the Lakers this season, as the pitching staff's 4.59 ERA trails only Wayne State (4.38) for the best mark in the conference. The Lakers have thrived in close games this season, with a  13-4-1  record in games in which the team scores 3-5 runs, and an 8-2 record in one run games. Additionally, in games in which the Lakers have led after six innings, the team is 25-0, as the bullpen has excelled at keeping the lead in close games. Closer Matt Williams has gone 16-17 in save opportunities this season, pitching 35 innings with a .026 ERA. He has struck out 50 batters this season, holding them to a .078 batting average, and has not surrendered a run in 29 innings over 22 appearances.
 
Williams is a finalist for the Brett Tomko award, which seeks to recognize the nations top pitcher. His 16 saves are tied for the lead in all of Division II, and his ERA of .026 is the lowest of all 41 finalists under consideration.
 
Offensively, the Lakers have gotten the job done with timely hitting, a necessity given the lack of a dominant power hitting attack. The Lakers have compiled the second lowest home run total in the GLIAC, with  just 20 round trippers this season, yet have the fourth highest batting average (.308), the sixth most hits (477) and the third most stolen bases (55). Six Lakers have stolen at least three bases this season, led by All-GLIAC Second Team selection Alex Young, whose 22 swipes on the season are the second most in the conference behind Ortel.
 
Young has been a dynamic catalyst for the Laker offense from the leadoff position, as he is third on the team in hits, with 47, and leads the team in runs scored, with 41, while batting .320 on the season. Young will be returning to familiar ground during the weekend, as the field the tournament will be played on is also the home field for Sinclair Community College, where Young played before transferring to Grand Valley State.
 
The Laker's speed on the base paths has offset the need for power hitting, although senior designated hitter Jason Ribecky has done his part to provide some of the latter. Ribecky leads GVSU with five home runs on the season, five of his 46 total hits on the season. His 33 runs batted in are the highest mark on the team, as is his slugging percentage (.528) and his team high 33 walks. His obscene .458 on-base percentage has made him a valuable cog in the Laker offense, as has his hitting.
 
Overall, the Lakers have eleven hitters in total that are hitting .300 or better this season, as well as eight hitters with more than 20 runs batted in this season, the signs of a balanced offensive attack. Nine Lakers have 40 or more hits this season, and seven have walked at least 10 times this season.
 
If the Lakers best Hillsdale on Thursday, they will play the loser of the matchup between No.3 Malone and No.5 Wayne State on Friday at 2:00 p.m. The Lakers split the season series with Wayne State, 2-2, but did not face Malone in any contest.