CLERMONT, Fla. - The Grand Valley State Laker softball team earned a 7-3 comeback victory over Rockhurst on Thursday (Mar. 9) before dropping a tight 2-0 game against Winona State at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. The split moves to Lakers to 5-7 on the season and 2-6 on their annual Spring Break trip. Grand Valley will face Sioux Falls (12:00 pm) and Lewis (6:00 pm) on Friday, March 9 before entering the final day of the trip where they will play Drury (8:00 am) and Fairmont State (10:30 am). 

Game one - vs. Rockhust (W, 7-3)
Two productive innings turned out to be enough for the Lakers to take a 7-3 victory in game one, as they were able to plate five and two runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively. Neither team was able to score a run until the top of the third inning where Rockhurst managed to get three runs across on a RBI double to center field followed by a two run homer to left field. Junior Courtney Reinhold came in to relieve starter Allison Lipovsky with two outs and induced a groundout to third base to end the Hawk assault. 

The Rockhurst lead didn't last long however, as the Lakers would have a productive third inning as well. Senior Kelsey Dominguez got the inning started with a single to left field followed by a stolen base to move up to second. A groudout to the shortstop by senior Teagan Shomin moved Dominguez up to third base. Freshman Kayla Plastiak then singled to second base to score the run followed by a steal of second herself. 

After a walk to Jenna Lenza and a flyout by Ellie Balbach, Sophomore Shannon Flaherty singles to the shortstop to load the bases. Junior Kaylie Rhynard was walked to score Plastiak and keep the bases loaded which would lead to a 2 RBI single to right field by Kelcie LaTour to put the Lakers up 4-3. Junior transfer Jessi Ramos then singled through the left side to score Rhynard. The Lakers tallied five runs on five hits to take a 5-3 lead. 

Reinhold got back to work on the mound in the top of the fourth inning by forcing three straight groundouts to halt any answer by the Hawks. The Lakers were able to tack on two more runs in the bottom of the frame courtesy of a Balbach single which scored Plastiak and an RBI double by Flaherty. 

The junior righty stayed locked in, as she allowed only two hits in the final three innings to secure the 7-3 victory improve to 1-3 on the mound. The Lakers outhit the Hawks by a 9-4 margin. Plastiak was 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored while Dominguez and Flaherty also went 2-3 with one run scored each and Flaherty tacked on an RBI. 

Game two - vs. Winona State (L, 2-0)
Much like the Lakers second game on Tuesday against UMSL, game two turned out to be a pitchers duel. Senior Ellie Balbach and WSU's junior McKenna Larson combined for 13 strikeouts and a matching 13 hits while only issuing one walk apiece. 

After only one hit in the first inning, the Lakers threatened in the top of the second. Balbach started the inning off with a single to the shortstop which was followed by another single by Flaherty to put runner's on first and second with no outs. Ali Vander Meer pinch ran for Balbach only to be forced out at third on a hit to the shortstop by LaTour. With runners on first and second, Rhynard laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with two outs. Larson was able to get Dominguez to ground out to second to end the inning without any runs being scored. 

In the bottom of the second the Warriors were able to get runners on first and second with two outs. Shaye Witte of the Warriors then delivered a single up the middle that looked like it would score the runner on second before Plastiak fielded the ball clean and threw a rocket to home plate where Rhynard was able to make the tag for the third out of the inning.

After the Lakers went 1-2-3 in the top of the third, the Warriors were able to plate two runs on four hits. After starting the inning off with a double, Katelyn Kolb of the Warriors advanced to third on a wild pitch before Larsen grounded out to second base scoring the first run of the game. The next Winona batter then hit a homerun to left center for the second and final run of the game to put the Warriors up 2-0. 

The Lakers threatened again in the top of the sixth inning after a two out double to right center by Lenza. Balbach then followed the double up with a single to advance Lenza to third and put runners on the corners with two outs. Flaherty then hit a chopper to third base and was called out at first on a bang-bang play that could have gone either way. 

Balbach was able to strike out the side in the bottom of the sixth but the Lakers could only manage a walk in the top of the seventh before falling by a 2-0 score. The loss pushes Balbach to 1-2 on the season, though she managed to strike out nine Warriors on the day while also going 2-3 at the plate.