Game 1 - Live Stats | Video
Game 2 - Live Stats | Video

The #6 Grand Valley State softball team will be back in action tomorrow afternoon (April 4) when they head to University Center, Mich. for a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) matchup with Saginaw Valley State starting at 3:30 PM. The Lakers most recently took two games from Northwood at home to improve to 23-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play while the Cardinals also took their last two games to improve to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in the GLIAC.
 
The Lakers – who were picked to win the league – have lived up to the expectations so far as they hold a healthy lead over second play Northwood after sweeping them in their last doubleheader. NU is now 8-4 in the league while Davenport (5-3), Purdue Northwest (4-3) and Ashland (6-5) are the only other teams above .500 in league play. 
 
The Laker pitching staff has posted some eye-popping numbers so far this season, ranking inside the top-five in ERA (1.24), shutouts (13), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.21) – all of which also lead the GLIAC. Individually, senior righty Allison Lipovsky is first in Division II with nine shutouts, second with a 0.52 ERA and 11.15 K's/9 innings, and 7th with 145 strikeouts as she's racked up a 13-1 record so far this season. 
 
GVSU's offense is nothing to balk at however, as they are tops in the league in multiple categories including ranking first in runs scored (174), second in batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.377), and slugging percentage (.468) and have been the hardest batters to strikeout in conference play, having done so just 20 times in their combined 244 at-bats. 
 
Sophomore Nikoma Holmen had a huge series against the Timberwolves on Tuesday, going 6-8 with two home runs, a double, seven RBI's, and three runs scored. She currently leads the team with a .433 average, 39 hits, and nine doubles while she's second with 26 RBI's. Freshman Lydia Goble has a league-leading 28 RIB's and seven homers as she's hitting .337 to start her collegiate career. Sophomore Bailey Thatcher has caught fire as of late and is now hitting .386 with 11 RBI's while Taylor Rieger is batting .341 (23 RBI's, 5 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homers) and Shannon Flaherty is hitting at a .338 clip (14 RBI's, 1 double, 1 homer). 
 
The Lakers are also 24-27 on stolen base attempts with redshirt senior Kaylie Rhynard leading the way with a perfect 7-7. 
 
The Cardinals are the top hitting team in the league, as they boast an impressive .358 team batting average and a .415 on-base percentage. They've also belted a league-leading 20 homers to go along with 48 doubles, 10 triples, and a .577 slugging percentage. 
 
Individually, Blasia Moyler leads the conference with a .458 batting average as she's 27-59 at the plate with 23 RBI's, seven homers, and 24 runs scored herself. The trio of Aubree Mouthaan (.431), Julia Salisbury (.418), and Meagan VerVaecke (.404) are all batting at least .400 to lead the high-powered offense. Mouthaan also has 21 RBI's and has scored 23 runs herself while five other Cardinals have tallied at least 10 ribbies this season. 
 
In the circle, Julia Mundy has seen the most action in her 37.2 innings pitched as she's gone 4-3 with a 4.27 ERA in her 12 appearances. She's tallied 20 K's to 13 walks this season while opposing lineups are hitting .306 off of her. Mikayla Alexandrou has seen the second most action this season as she's 3-2 overall with 23K's and 11 walks in her 31.1 innings pitched. Three other Cardinals have seen at least 10 innings of action as well and are a combined 2-4 overall. 
 
The Lakers will be back in action on Sunday, April 7 when they travel to Ferris State for a doubleheader that is scheduled to start at 12:00 PM.