Bracket | Postgame Press Conference

A four-run fourth inning for Division II's top offense was the only scoring of the game for either Grand Valley State or #1 West Texas A&M at the opening game of the 2016 College World Series in Denver, Colo. on Tuesday afternoon (May 17). The Lady Buffs plated four runs on four hits in the fourth frame to earn the 4-0 victory at the National Championships Festival at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver.
 
Champions of the Midwest Region, Grand Valley State drew the top-ranked team in the country in the opening round of the national tournament. West Texas A&M, the South Central Region champions, entered the game with a .363 team batting average and 86 home runs, both of which are the top offensive marks in all of Division II.
 
The Lakers did a nice job of equaling the WTAM offense (both teams had seven hits) and Grand Valley State actually left more runners on base (12) than did the Lady Buffs (nine). However, a fourth inning with four hits - the key hit being a two-run double - and a Laker error (the only one of the game for either team) provided the difference for West Texas A&M.
 
GVSU falls to 43-12 on the season, while West Texas A&M - the 2014 Division II National Champion - improves to 59-3 overall.
 
Grand Valley State will face the loser of Tuesday's second game, which pits #16 Armstrong State (40-13) against #5 Humboldt State (50-5-1). The Lakers will play the losing team at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday night (May 18) in an elimination contest. West Texas A&M advances to face the winner of the Armstrong State-Humboldt State game at noon on Wednesday in the winner's bracket.
 
The pitching matchup for the opening game was GVSU junior lefty Ellie Balbach and West Texas A&M sophomore Kilee Halbert. Balbach entered with an 8-3 record, including five strong innings in the 1-0 shutout victory over #10 Wayne State to win the NCAA Midwest Super Regional. Halbert, an NFCA Third Team All-American, came in with a 26-2 record in more than double the innings (177.1) than Balbach (88.0) throughout the season.
 
West Texas A&M put its first two batters of the game on base on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After a sacrifice fly moved the runners to second and third base with one out, Balbach buckled down and recorded a pair of strikeouts - one looking, one swinging - to get out of the jam and leave both WTAM runners stranded.
 
The Lakers also threatened during their first at-bat, loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch (from sophomore Teagan Shomin, GVSU's career leader in that category) and a pair of walks (juniors Jenna Lenza and Balbach), but Halbert notched a swinging strikeout to escape the bases loaded threat.
 
In the second inning, Balbach retired two of the first three Lady Buff batters before a bloop single and a walk loaded the bases with two down. GVSU escaped trouble, though, as Balbach induced a soft grounder to first base for the third out of the frame. In the home half of the second, freshman Shannon Flaherty smacked a leadoff double and the Lakers put runners on the corners with two outs. Halbert, however, used a groundball to keep GVSU off the board.
 
Balbach threw just seven pitches in the third inning, inducing flyball outs to left, center, and right field for a quick 1-2-3 frame against the heart of the Lady Buffs' lineup, the 3-4-5 hitters. For the Lakers, senior McKenze Supernaw tallied a one-out single and GVSU again put runners on the corners with two outs. For a third straight inning, Halbert escaped trouble, inducing a groundout to halt the Laker scoring threat.
 
West Texas A&M pushed the game's first runs across the plate in the fourth inning. Back-to-back leadoff singles were followed by a one-out throwing error, bringing in a run for the Lady Buffs. A two-run opposite field double from Brittany Gehle made the score 3-0 and ended Balbach's afternoon in the circle. She was replaced by senior righty Sara Andrasik, who allowed an RBI double to Shea Ibrahim for a 4-0 WTAM lead.
 
The Lakers came up in the bottom of the fourth and Shomin and sophomore Kaylie Rhynard notched consecutive two-out singles, but stranded both runners on an inning-ending groundout.
 
Andrasik recorded a pair of strikeouts in the fifth inning and left a WTAM runner on third base to end the stanza, while also striking out two Lady Buffs in the sixth inning, stranding a runner at second base. Halbert retired six of the seven batters she faced in the fifth and sixth innings, allowing only a one-out single to junior Kelsey Dominguez in the sixth frame.
 
The Lakers recorded a pair of base hits in the seventh inning on back-to-back singles from Lenza and Supernaw but Halbert closed the game with a strikeout and foulout to finish off Grand Valley State.
 
Balbach drops to 8-4 on the year, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits in 3.1 innings in the circle. She walked three batters and recorded three strikeouts. In relief, Andrasik tossed 3.2 innings and gave up just three base hits and a walk. Andrasik struck out five WTAM batters.
 
Halbert improves to 27-2, as the sophomore All-American threw a complete game shutout and scattered seven hits. The righty walked four batters and struck out five Lakers.
 
Supernaw paced GVSU with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate, while five other Lakers had one hit apiece. Flaherty's second inning double was the team's lone extra base hit. West Texas A&M had two doubles.
 
Laker Notes
- This is the first-ever meeting between Grand Valley State and West Texas A&M on the softball diamond
- The Lakers are making their third trip to the College World Series (2002, 2013, 2016) in their 14 overall NCAA Tournament appearances
- GVSU is now 42-29 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 6-5 record at the College World Series level
- West Texas A&M won the 2014 Division II National Championship, when the Lady Buffs went a perfect 4-0 at the World Series that season. This is WTAM's second-ever trip to the College World Series
- Grand Valley State is the lowest-seeded regionally ranked team competing in Denver, as the Lakers were a #4 seed out of the Midwest Region. West Texas A&M - the South Central region champions - were one of three #1 seeds in their respective regions. There were also three #2 seeds and one #3 seed comprising the eight-team World Series field
- Five of the eight teams were nationally ranked in the most recent NFCA Top-25 poll, released at the end of the regular season. Adelphi, Charleston, and Grand Valley State were all unranked in that poll, but were the first three teams listed in the 'Receiving Votes' category, just outside the top-25