vs. Ashland: Wednesday, April 12th
GVSU Baseball Field - Allendale, Michigan
1:00 PM - Watch ESPN Link l Live Stats l Game Notes 

ALLENDALE, Mich.-- The Grand Valley State baseball team will look to build some momentum against the struggling Ashland Eagles (12-20) in a home doubleheader on Wednesday. The Eagles are coming off of a four game sweep by Wayne State and are now second to last in the GLIAC Standings. The Lakers are slightly better off at 17-13 overall (5-7 GLIAC), but were unable to come away with a win last weekend against Ohio Dominican, settling for a split. 

The doubleheader will be shown on ESPN3, with veteran play-by-play man Tom Cleary calling all the action in the twin bill. Fans can follow along with the live stats via the above link, and look at the game notes for more information about the matchup. 

The Lakers have had little trouble at the plate this season, and rank third in total runs (199), second in hits (304), first in doubles (74) and third in home runs (25) in GLIAC play, all while carrying a .315 average as a team. GVSU's struggles have come more on the mound, as the teams ERA now sits at 5.17 (5th) after the weekend series with Ohio Dominican in which they surrendered 30 runs to the Panthers. 

The Eagles present a welcome sight for Laker hitters in this matchup, as they are ninth in the GLIAC in team era, at 6.27. The Eagles have surrendered the most hits (318) of any pitching staff in the conference, and have issued the seventh most walks in the GLIAC. At the plate, Ashland has left a lot to be desired, as the eagles are batting just .265 as a team, and are seventh in the conference in hits and eighth in runs scored. Furthermore, Ashland batters have struck out a GLIAC-worst 256 times this season. 

Utility man J.P Sorma returns as the Eagles toughest hitter, and has posted a .356 batting average while posting team-leading totals of 42 hits, nine doubles and 18 runs batted in. Infielders Carson Mittermaier and Greg Ludwig are tied for the team lead with five home runs each, despite both hitting under .260 on the season. Mittermaier, a freshman, is also tied with Sorma for the team lead with 28 RBI. 

The doubleheader will follow the traditional format of one seven inning game followed by a nine inning game.