DETROIT – The Grand Valley State Lakers earned a win in the opening round of the 2018 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament, 8-3, over the Davenport Panthers Thursday afternoon. Tate Brawley carried a shutout into the eighth inning while Jacob Gleason pounded out five hits. GVSU improves to 28-21 on the season and 1-0 in the double elimination tournament.
 
Brawley was sensational for the Lakers, hurling 7.2 innings to earn the win (7-1). He allowed three runs, all in the eighth inning, on six hits and a walk while striking out five.  Three Lakers had multiple hits; Gleason had five while Connor Glick added a pair of hits and two RBI and Nolan Anspaugh had two hits, a pair of walks and drove in a run.
 
The Lakers rallied for three two-out runs in the first inning. With two runners moving, Austin LaDoux hit a weak grounder towards the left side and the defense misplayed the ball to allow both runners to score. Connor Glick then followed up with a line shot up the middle to drive home another run.
 
Those three runs stood all the way until the eighth inning when the Lakers broke the game open. Glick delivered added insurance in the eighth, singling home LaDoux again on a line drive to left field. That sparked a five-run inning  for the Lakers, including a Gleason RBI single, as the Lakers delivered the knockout blow to secure a game one win and advance in the winners' bracket.  The Lakers will face the winner of Thursday's finale between three-seed Ashland and four-seed Wayne State on Friday at 6:00 PM. GVSULakers.com and @GVSUBaseball on Twitter will have live coverage of the contest.