In its first doubleheader since returning from its annual Spring Break trip, the Grand Valley State softball team tossed a pair of shutouts and swept future GLIAC member Purdue Northwest on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 19). The Lakers allowed just six hits in the doubleheader victories, winning game one by a 7-0 score and completing the sweep with a 6-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
Sophomore Allison Lipovsky and junior Allie Grys each hurled a complete game shutout, with Lipovsky notching 11 strikeouts and allowing just two base hits. Grys followed Lipovsky's gem with one of her own, as the newcomer gave up just four hits and recorded a dozen outs in the air.
 
With the wins, the Lakers move to 8-10 on the season. Purdue Northwest - which will join the GLIAC as a full-time member during the 2017-18 athletic year - is 10-8 overall.
 
Grand Valley State opens up GLIAC play next weekend (Mar. 25-26) against Ashland and Ohio Dominican, with both games being played in Ohio.
 
Game One (W, 7-0)
 
The opening game victory featured strong pitching and balanced hitting from the Lakers, who scored in five of the seven innings. GVSU also outhit Purdue Northwest by a 13-2 margin, with four Lakers notching multi-hit outings.
 
With two outs in the top of the first and junior Teagan Shomin on first base after a one-out single, senior Ellie Balbach doubled to left center, putting two runners in scoring position. Sophomore Shannon Flaherty matched Balbach's double with a two-bagger of her own, driving in both Shomin and Balbach with her hit to center field.
 
The 2-0 advantage doubled to 4-0 in the second inning. Senior Janae Langs - after joining the team at the conclusion of the GVSU women's basketball postseason - doubled in her first at-bat. She moved to third base on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior Kelsey Dominguez. Senior Jenna Lenza added an RBI single, as her base hit scored junior Kaylie Rhynard, who reached on an error and advanced to third base on Shomin's two-out double.
 
Lipovsky took the 4-0 lead and struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning, her second straight 1-2-3 frame. She gave up a walk and a hit by pitch in the third stanza, but notched consecutive strikeouts and a groundout to escape any trouble and keep the score at 4-0.
 
In the top of the fourth, Rhynard reached on a bunt single, stole second base, and moved to third on a fly ball. Lenza's RBI single brought Rhynard home for a 5-0 cushion.
 
Lipovsky kept cruising with a 1-2-3 fourth inning, not allowing a hit until a one-out single in the fifth frame. The Lakers added runs in the sixth inning (a Rhynard single scored freshman Kayla Plastiak, who also singled) and the seventh (junior Tanner Kiessel's RBI single brought home Flaherty, who singled earlier in the inning) to make the score 7-0.
 
Purdue Northwest notched an infield hit in the bottom of the seventh, but Lipovsky responded with back-to-back swinging strikeouts to cap off the shutout. Lipovsky's 11 K's are just one shy of her career-high, as she fanned 12 Quincy batters in a 5-0 victory as a freshman on Mar. 7, 2016.
 
At 2-1 on the year, Lipovsky now has a pair of shutouts this season and five total in her career. She allowed just two hits and a walk to go with the 11 strikeouts.
 
Rhynard, Shomin, Lenza, and Flaherty all notched two hits apiece, with Lenza and Flaherty each collecting two RBI. Rhynard stole a base and scored twice. Shomin, Balbach, Flaherty, and Langs all doubled for the Lakers, who recorded all four of the game's extra base hits.
 
Game Two (W, 6-0)
 
While GVSU scored in five different innings in game one, the Lakers scored just twice in game two - but a five-run fifth frame broke the game wide open.
 
Grys worked around a two-out walk and struck out a pair of Purdue Northwest batters in the first inning, then followed it up with a 1-2-3 second stanza to keep the game scoreless. Junior catcher Jessica Ramos walked to lead off the third inning, moved up on a Dominguez sacrifice bunt, and scored the game's first run on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Shomin.
 
After allowing a leadoff double in the bottom of the third, Grys induced three straight outs in the air - a popup and two flyouts - to keep GVSU on top, 1-0. Another 1-2-3 fourth inning from Grys was answered by five Laker runs in the top of the fifth.
 
Langs led things off with a bunt single, stole second base, moved to third on Ramos' single, and scored on Dominguez's fielders' choice for a 2-0 lead. The bases were loaded for Lenza and she delivered with a two-run opposite field single to open up a 4-0 cushion, scoring both Dominguez and Rhynard. Following Lenza's lead, Balbach doubled the opposite way to bring in Lenza and Shomin for the 6-0 advantage.
 
Grys notched another 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the fifth and although the Pride loaded the bases in the sixth, she forced a flyout to keep Purdue Northwest off the board. She completed the shutout by getting a lineout to strand a pair of runners in the seventh inning.
 
Now 3-1 this season, Grys gave up four hits and two walks, while striking out five. 12 of the 21 outs she recorded came on either popups or flyouts.
 
Balbach paced the Laker offense with a 3-for-4 effort, notching a double and two RBI. Lenza also drove in a pair of runs, while Shomin doubled among her two base hits. In the two victories, Grand Valley State pitching allowed just six hits, with only one of those going for extra bases - a third inning double in game two.