ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State baseball team completed a four-game sweep of Concordia with a pair of wins on Saturday, both by scores of 6-2. The Lakers complete the regular season at 21-13 overall and will head into the GLIAC Tournament riding an eight-game win streak.
 
Game 1: W, 6-2
 
Michael Barno continued the trend of outstanding starting pitching as starters have not allowed more than two earned runs in seven consecutive games. The junior finished his outing with six innings, allowing six hits, two runs (one earned), and four strikeouts to earn his second win of the year. Nathan Wargolet entered with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and induced a double play ball and a groundout to get credit for the save.
 
Concordia scored in the first inning, but back-to-back doubles by Parker Murdie and Christian Faust in the bottom half of the frame quickly tied the game at 1-1. Neither team would score the next three innings until the Laker bats awoke with two outs in the fifth inning. Ryan Blake-Jones notched an RBI single, Cade Stanton hit a two-run triple to left, and Kyle Nott recorded an infield RBI single to open up the GVSU lead to 6-1.
 
Faust and Nott each recorded multi-hit games and Stanton had a team-high two RBI.
 
Game 2: W, 6-2
 
Mark Scannell made it eight straight starts that featured two earned runs or less allowed by GVSU starting pitching as the junior tossed seven innings of one run ball, but was not factored into the decision. Nick Shaw entered and threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.
 
The Cardinals took the lead early once again and led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth. After a Carter Smith walk, Murdie laced a triple to center and the next batter, Faust, drove in Murdie to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead. Concordia would score on a wild pitch to tie the game in the eighth inning, but a two-out rally in the bottom frame gave GVSU the lead back. Kyle Nott belted a triple and a pair of walks then loaded the bases. Smith stepped up and hit a bloop single over the shortstop's head to make it a 4-2 game. Murdie notched his fourth hit of the game the following at-bat, scoring Smith and Jake Rydquist on a two-run double.
 
Murdie led the Lakers with four hits and three RBI, while Smith went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
 
The Lakers will begin GLIAC Tournament play on Thursday, May 20 in Lansing, Mich. at Cooley Law Stadium (Jackson Field). GVSU will find out their first opponent following the conclusion of tomorrow's GLIAC action. Stay tuned to gvsulakers.com and @GVSUBaseball on Twitter for updates.