Friday (Apr. 14)
at Northwood (14-20 overall, 5-7 GLIAC)
3:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
 
Saturday (Apr. 15)
at Saginaw Valley State (24-9 overall, 9-3 GLIAC)
12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
 
The Grand Valley State softball team has hit a nice stride as of late and the Lakers will take their seven-game winning streak into a pair of road doubleheaders this weekend. On Friday (Apr. 14), GVSU faces Northwood at 3:30 p.m. in Midland before squaring off with GLIAC leader Saginaw Valley State at noon on Saturday (Apr. 15).
 
Since returning from the team's annual Spring Break trip, Grand Valley State is 13-5 in its last nine doubleheaders - earning five sweeps and three splits during that time. Not only have the Lakers got back in the win column more often lately, even their losses are by the slimmest of margins. Four of GVSU's five losses since Mar. 19 are by one run; the Lakers have eight one-run losses on the season, but recently have figured out how to win close games as well as lopsided contests.
 
Last weekend in Allendale, Grand Valley State outscored Findlay and Tiffin by a 24-7 margin in four Laker victories, which included 6-0 and 11-3 wins in the series. In the opening game of each doubleheader, GVSU tossed a shutout - as sophomore Allison Lipovsky was the starter in each victory. Those efforts - seven total hits, only three walks, 18 strikeouts in 15.0 total innings - against Findlay and Tiffin enabled Lipovsky to be named the GLIAC Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row.
 
GVSU continued its hot stretch on Tuesday in Indiana, sweeping GLVC opponent Saint Joseph's by scores of 7-1 and 2-0. Again, Lipovsky was overpowering, as the righty notched a career-best 13 strikeouts and allowed just one run on three hits in her eighth win of the season. After Lipovsky held the Pumas to one run in the opener, juniors Courtney Reinhold and Allie Grys limited SJC to five hits, as Reinhold worked out of a couple early jams and Grys nailed down her first save at GVSU with three hitless innings of relief.
 
The numbers during Grand Valley State's seven-game winning streak are rather overwhelming. GVSU has outscored its opponents by a 37-8 margin and are more than doubling its foes in base hits, 68-33. That figure includes a 16-7 edge in extra base hits, while the Lakers are hitting .345 and have struck out only nine times in their last seven games.
 
In the circle, however, is where GVSU has been even better. While the Laker offense has only fanned nine times in seven games, the Grand Valley State pitching staff has recorded 48 strikeouts during that timeframe. Lipovsky is 3-0 with a 0.32 ERA during this stretch, allowing one earned run in 22.0 innings, with just five walks against 31 strikeouts. Albeit in fewer innings, Reinhold has been just as good. The junior has a 0.00 earned run average and is also 3-0, giving up just three runs (none earned) in 11.1 innings, though she does so in a less powerful way with only two total strikeouts in those appearances.
 
Offensively, seven Lakers are hitting above .300 during this winning stretch, with senior Jenna Lenza (.409, 10 runs, four doubles) leading the way and classmate Kelsey Dominguez (.400, eight hits) not far behind. Freshman Kelcie LaTour (.381) has driven in six runs, while juniors Tanner Kiessel (.350, two doubles, a triple) and Jessica Ramos (.333, home run, four RBI) have notched up their production recently as well.
 
GVSU has just two home runs in this win streak, with one being Lenza's walk-off game winner over Tiffin on Sunday, but the team's 13 doubles is a reason for the team's uptick in offense. Also, the Laker defense has been strong, with only five errors over seven games; the opponents have committed 11 errors during this time.
 
Lenza continues to sit near the top of the conference rankings in a number of categories and is the GLIAC leader in doubles (17) and on-base percentage (.532). She also is third in batting average (.468) and total bases (78), fourth in hits (52), and fifth in runs (30), walks (13), and slugging percentage (.703). In fact, Lenza is inching towards the GLIAC single-season record for doubles, as her 17 two-baggers are only five behind former Laker great Katie Martin's record 22 doubles in the 2013 season.
 
From a career standpoint, Lenza is now tied for second in school history (with former Laker Erin Burgess) with 52 career doubles. She is also fifth all-time in walks (77), seventh in total bases (331), eighth in runs scored (143), ninth in hits (223), and is near the top-10 in both homers and RBI. These are all cumulative stats, but Lenza is also ranked in the top-10 in career batting average (ninth, .378), on-base percentage (fifth, .447), and slugging percentage (seventh, .561) - figures that could conceivably drop over the remainder of the season.
 
With back-to-back Pitcher of the Week honors to her name, Lipovsky leads the league with 8.12 strikeouts per game and is second in the league in shutouts (five), total strikeouts (109), earned run average (1.41), and opponents batting average (.163). She has logged 11 complete games (fifth in the GLIAC) in 17 appearances, but has remained pretty fresh by throwing just 94.0 innings this year, ranking her 10th among conference pitchers.
 
The Lakers are up to second in the GLIAC in team batting average (.316), earned run average (.218), and doubles (58). Grand Valley State has the third-most hits (304), total bases (408), and extra base hits (76) of any team in the conference and is also third in on-base percentage (.363) and slugging percentage (.425), not to mention opponents batting average (.241). Maybe more important is the Lakers' 101 strikeouts are the third-lowest figure in the league.
 
Northwood (14-20, 5-7 GLIAC) has dropped its last five games after starting conference play with a 3-0 league record. During the team's spring break trip, NU was just 6-8 after starting the trip with a 4-0 mark. The Timberwolves have split conference twinbills with Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican, and Ashland before falling to Hillsdale and Wayne State last weekend.
 
With 98 walks as a team, Northwood leads the league and the Timberwolves have also blasted 27 home runs on the year, second-most in the league. It is no surprise that their .440 slugging percentage and 78 extra base hits are also second-highest in the GLIAC, though they have struck out 149 times, third-worst of any team. The NU pitching staff is also last in the league in earned run average (5.25) and opponents batting average (.331).
 
Only one team has more home runs than Northwood and that team is Saginaw Valley State, with 29 bombs. SVSU (24-9, 9-3) is 8-3 in April, with league splits against Ashland, Wayne State, and Hillsdale - all teams that Grand Valley State has also split with. After a 6-5 record in February, the Cardinals turned things around by winning their first three games and last six games in March to cap off a 9-1 month.
 
In addition to the home runs, Saginaw Valley State leads the league in doubles (65), RBI (182), extra base hits (97), total bases (464), stolen bases (53), batting average (.320), on-base percentage (.385), and slugging percentage (.485). The Cardinals aren't too shabby in the circle either, with a .218 opponents batting average and a 2.24 ERA, good for second and third-lowest in the GLIAC.
 
After this weekend, the Lakers close the regular season with four consecutive home doubleheaders. GVSU faces Aquinas next Tuesday (Apr. 18) in a non-league twinbill before welcoming Lake Erie and Walsh next weekend (Apr. 22-23). The regular season finale is Apr. 28 against Ferris State, with the GLIAC Tournament beginning on May 5 in Findlay, Ohio.