Series vs. Hillsdale
Saturday, April 22nd at Hillsdale
Live Stats l Game Notes 

Sunday, April 23rd vs. Hillsdale
Live Stats l Game Notes

The Grand Valley State baseball team is fresh off wins in two straight GLIAC series and has gone 8-2 in their last 10 games to get well clear of .500 ahead of the three remaining GLIAC series. A unique home/away split series with Hillsdale this weekend will also be the weekend the Lakers honor the senior class, with Sundays home doubleheader against the Chargers being the 2017 Senior Day. Prior to that, the Lakers (24-14, 12-8 GLIAC) will face Hillsdale (19-20, 12-12 GLIAC) at Simpson Field in Hillsdale, Michigan for the opening doubleheader of the series.

The Chargers are one of the top offensive teams in the conference in several categories, boasting a GLIAC-best 43 home runs and ranking fourth in total runs scored, with 253 through 39 games. Hillsdale will provide a tougher test for the Laker pitching staff than their previous opponents Lake Erie and Ashland, which were two of the least potent offenses in the conference. Three members of the Hillsdale lineup have hit double-digits home runs, led by catcher Steven Ring and his conference-leading 12 home runs, while Ethan Wiskur (11 home runs) and Colin Boerst (10 home runs) rank third and fourth in that category. While the Chargers have done well in clearing the ball out over the fence, GVSU has been the better hitting team overall, posting a .328 average compared to Hillsdale's .293, and posting a 90-62 average in doubles on the season. GVSU has had no shortage of power this season, obliterating last season's total of 28 home runs hit and posting a .504 slugging percentage as a team. 

Hitting for power has been a team effort this season, as nine Lakers have hit at least three home runs, and five different players have also posted at least 10 doubles. Brody Andrews leads the way with six big flies, while Connor Glick has a team-best 14 doubles in the campaign in addition to four home runs. Left fielder Seth Johnson has posted 52 hits so far to lead the team, and has come around to score 34 times as a result, while driving in 25 runs of his own via 11 doubles and four home runs. The power hitting seems to be contagious for a team that hit just 28 home runs through all of last season, and has easily eclipsed that mark and then some this year. 

On the mound, the Lakers have been significantly better at limiting opponents a the plate, holding them to a .281 average and compiling a team ERA of 5.28, which is significantly lower than that of Hillsdale (6.54). No pitcher on the Chargers staff has an ERA below 4.50 this season, and the Chargers have allowed the third most hits (372) in the GLIAC behind Ashland and Lake Erie.Juniors Tate Brawley (5-0) and Noah Lamboley (5-1) have both been strong this season to compliment the rotation of Jake Mason, Ryan Arnold and Mitch Ashcraft, as the five have pitched the bulk of the innings between them.  

In addition to being a matchup slated for heavy offense, the teams have extensive history with each other and are very familiar after having faced each other six times last season. GVSU defeated the Chargers in each one of those matchups, including a four game sweep of the Chargers in Allendale and postseason wins in the GLIAC Tournament (5-3) and NCAA Midwest Region Tournament (9-8). The latter was a wild walk-off victory that saw the Chargers deny closer Matt Williams the single-season saves record with a late home run, only to watch as Williams hit a walk-off bomb of his own to lead off the bottom of the ninth and propel the Lakers to the victory. 

After facing the Chargers in Hillsdale on Saturday, the Lakers return to GVSU Baseball field on Sunday for the second doubleheader of the series, and Senior Day. Nine members of the team will be honored as part of Senior Day, and they are Michael Battistelli, Keith Browning, Sawyer Chambers, Johnny Nate, Tyler Ramoie, Nick Schultz, Anthony Villar, Matt Williams and Alex Young. Each will be honored during the break in-between the first and second game of the doubleheader.