vs. Hillsdale
GLIAC Tournament
Friday, May 12th
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XENIA, Ohio -- The Grand Valley State baseball team finds itself in a do-or-die situation on Saturday afternoon at the GLIAC Tournament, playing sixth-seeded Hillsdale in an elimination game after dropping a 4-3 decision to Tiffin yesterday. The Lakers and Chargers both find themselves on the verge of going home, with Saturday's contest deciding which team ends their season right then and there. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. at Grady's Field in Xenia, Ohio. 

Fans can follow along with a live video stream or audio coverage of the game via the above links, which live stats and game notes for the matchup also available. 

Grand Valley State finds itself in this situation following yesterday's defeat to Tiffin, in which the Lakers had seized a lead and seemed to be headed for a second GLIAC Tournament win, only to see the Dragons rally and score three runs in the fifth inning to take the 4-3 lead that would be the final margin of victory. Grand Valley State has now scored just five runs in their two GLIAC Tournament games after averaging 6.7 runs per game this season. Starting pitching has been strong in the two games, holding opponents to just five runs as well, but the Lakers have now used what is arguably their two best pitchers in Ryan Arnold and Tate Brawley, as both have posted sub-4.00 ERA's this season. Mitch Ashcraft, Jake Mason, Noah Lamboley and Sawyer Chambers are the other options at SP, and all have had their own stellar moments on the mound this season, and could be ready to step up for the Lakers if called upon on Saturday. 

Whoever gets the assignment will not have an easy task in Hillsdale, which has belted out 49 home runs and 80 doubles despite batting just .284 as a team. The Chargers feature several prominent hitters, including catcher Steven Ring, infielder Ethan Wiskur and infielder Colin Boerst, who have hit 16, 12 and 10 big flys, respectively. That offense was completely shut down in a 14-0 loss to Northwood to open the tournament, but rallied to score four ninth-inning runs against Wayne State to win their first elimination game by an 11-8 score. 

After scoring just five runs in their first two tournament games, the Lakers are in need of an offensive breakthrough, and may have a great opportunity to do so in today's contest. The Chargers are without staff ace Will Kruse after he took the bad loss in the opener to Northwood, and without next best starter Colton Rominski after he started the second game. That leaves two freshmen, Jeff Burch and Andrew Verbrugge, as the next most experienced starters on the roster, and both field an ERA above 5.50 this season. The duo are tied for the team lead in total runs surrendered, with 52, and Verbrugge has surredered a team-high nine home runs this season, an enticing matchup for a Laker team that has 44 big flys this season, and two in the tournament thus far.