Heading into Saturday's (May 7) Midwest Region 1 Championship series in Indianapolis, fourth seed Grand Valley State would need to defeat eighth-seeded Trevecca Nazarene twice to win the regional title and advance to the Midwest Super Regional next week. The Lakers did exactly that, using terrific pitching and timely hitting to knock off the Trojans in both contests by scores of 4-2 and 2-1.
 
GVSU was knocked into the loser's bracket of the tournament at the hands of Trevecca Nazarene on Friday morning (May 6), but the Lakers won three consecutive elimination games - the first over #2 Indianapolis (5-4) on Friday afternoon and the next two on Saturday afternoon against the Trojans, the champions of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC), but the lowest seed in the regional tournament.
 
The pair of victories lifts Grand Valley State to a 41-11 overall record, while Trevecca Nazarene's season ends with a 45-17 mark. GVSU's 41 wins are tied with the 2011 Laker team for the ninth-most in school history.
 
Grand Valley State advances to the Midwest Super Regional (comparable to the Sweet Sixteen) against GLIAC rival Wayne State, as the third-seeded Warriors won the Midwest Region 2 Championship in St. Louis, Mo. over seventh seed Maryville. The best-of-three series will be on Wednesday-Thursday (May 11-12), likely at Wayne State. No times have been set, but the teams will likely play one game on Wednesday and another on Thursday, with a winner-take-all game also being played on Thursday, if needed.
 
This is GVSU's 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the third time the Lakers have advanced to the Super Regional series, having accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2013. Grand Valley State also advanced to the regional championship game/series (prior to being termed 'Super Regional') in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007, giving the Lakers seven appearances in the regional title game/series.
 
Game One
 
Head coach Dana Callihan made an interesting entry to the Laker lineup for the opening contest, as freshman righty Allison Lipovsky was chosen to start in the circle. Lipovsky certainly has the credentials, as she was named the 2016 GLIAC Freshman of the Year with a 10-1 record in the regular season, but the rookie had not pitched since Apr. 19 due to an injury.
 
After the Lakers collected a pair of singles in the top of the first but were unable to score, Lipovsky made her first appearance in two and a half weeks. She showed some rust early, allowing back-to-back walks to the first two Trojan hitters. Lipovsky bounced back to retire the next three batters, including a pair of infield flyouts.
 
GVSU opened the scoring in the third inning. Junior Janae Langs led off with a bunt single, followed one pitch later by an opposite field single from lefty Teagan Shomin. A walk to junior Jenna Lenza loaded the bases. With two outs, junior Ellie Balbach delivered a single to left field, scoring Langs for a 1-0 Laker advantage.
 
Trevecca Nazarene immediately responded with a run in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit. An error, a wild pitch, and two sacrifice bunts brought in Ansley Brantley to tie the score at 1-1.
 
Just like TNU did to the Lakers, Grand Valley State answered with another run in the top of the fourth. Senior Chelsea Horvath led off with a double to left center, which was followed by a single to right field from junior Kelsey Dominguez. Langs then ripped a single to center field to bring Horvath across home plate for the 2-1 lead.
 
Lipovsky settled into a nice groove, retiring six of the seven batters she faced in the fourth and fifth innings, keeping GVSU on top by a run. In the bottom of the sixth, the Trojans were able to tie the game. A walk, an infield hit, and a fielder's choice loaded the bases with no outs. Mary Collins flew out to centerfield and Alex Richardson was just barely able to slide into home and beat Langs' throw to the plate from center.
 
Trevecca Nazarene still had runners on second and third base with one out, but Lipovsky buckled down with a looking strikeout and a foulout on the very next pitch. The game was tied 2-2 heading into the seventh inning.
 
With one out, sophomore Kaylie Rhynard reached on an error by the TNU third baseman. She stole second base to extend her season mark to a perfect 20-for-20 n stolen bases. Lenza then reached on an odd play where the Trojan second baseman dropped an infield popup, perhaps losing the ball in the sun.
 
GVSU had two on and one out, senior McKenze Supernaw ripped a double to left center field, scoring Rhynard for the go-ahead run and a 3-2 advantage. Lenza moved to third on the double and then raced home when Balbach grounded out to the second baseman, allowing Lenza to score an important insurance run.
 
Owning a 4-2 lead, Lipovsky allowed a one-out walk, but fielded a comebacker for the second out and another groundout to end the contest. The freshman moved to 11-1 on the season, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits in the complete game victory. She did walk four batters, but notched four strikeouts, as well.
 
Shomin, Supernaw, and Langs all collected two hits in the opening game, as Supernaw and Horvath each doubled. Balbach collected two RBI, as GVSU outhit the Trojans, 9-3.
 
Trevecca Nazarene righty Haley Fagan - an All-Midwest Region Second Team honoree - allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits in the loss. She walked one and struck out five, with her record dropping to 36-12 on the year.
 
Game Two
 
Fagan would take the ball for the Trojans again in game two, but the Lakers countered with sophomore Courtney Reinhold, with both Fagan and Reinhold dominating the first three innings. GVSU was unable to put a runner on base in its first three at-bats and Reinhold surrendered just a two-out infield single in the first inning and a leadoff single in the third frame.
 
Still scoreless in the top of the fourth, Shomin put the Lakers on the board with a leadoff solo homer to right field. Her third dinger of the season, Shomin's blast came on the first pitch of the fourth inning, giving GVSU its first hit and runner in the game and a 1-0 lead.
 
Reinhold retired the next four batters she faced before Trevecca Nazarene's Sammie Jo Ivy drove a 3-2 pitch off the wall in right center field for a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Similar to the opening game though, the Lakers responded immediately after the tying homer. Langs laid down a perfect bunt to lead off the top of the sixth inning. With one out, she stole second base and then moved to third base as Rhynard beat out a groundball to shortstop with a headfirst slide into first base. Lenza came up with runners on the corners and just one out - thanks to Rhynard's hustle - and Callihan made another big call, similar to starting Lipovsky in game one.
 
Callihan gave Lenza the bunt sign and Lenza put down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt midway to the pitcher, as Langs raced home and slid in for the go-ahead run. Lenza was safe at first and Rhynard moved to third base, still with one out. Fagan rebounded to retire the next two batters and get out of even more trouble.
 
Reinhold exited the game after five strong innings, replaced by senior Sara Andrasik in her newfound closer role. Andrasik was terrific, notching a strikeout, a groundout, and a looking strikeout to complete at 1-2-3 sixth inning.
 
After GVSU went down in order in the top of the seventh, Andrasik notched a lineout on a nice diving catch by Horvath in right field, followed by a groundout and a foul popup to Supernaw for the final out of the tournament.
 
Earning the victory in the circle was Reinhold, who pitched five innings and allowed one earned run on three hits. She did not tally a walk or strikeout in her 56-pitch effort. Andrasik retired all six batters she faced and recorded her fifth save this season, giving the senior two victories and a save out of GVSU's four wins this weekend.
 
The Lakers outhit Trevecca Nazarene 4-3, as Fagan (36-13) allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings. She struck out seven and did not walk a Laker batter.
 
Rhynard was the only player in the game with more than one hit, as the recently named All-Midwest Region Second Team selection was 2-for-3. The homers for Shomin and Ivy were the lone extra base hits in the game.
 
To reiterate, the Lakers' two runs in the second game came on a solo homerun and a suicide squeeze bunt.
 
In 14 all-time appearances at the NCAA Tournament, Grand Valley State is now 40-28. This is the fifth time that GVSU has won at least four games in a single NCAA postseason, having also done so in 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2013.