AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Grand Valley State baseball team won both games Tuesday (March 7) in the sunshine state to improve to 4-3 on the season. The Lakers defeated Davis & Elkins 14-1 in seven innings in game one before defeating Minnesota Duluth 5-4 in game two.
Game One – vs Davis & Elkins, W 14-1
The Lakers exploded for 14 runs off 15 hits in game one against Davis & Elkins.
Nathan Logan got the scoring started in the first inning with an RBI single after
Kyle Nott tripled. Logan recorded his second RBI of the game in third inning to make it 2-0 GVSU scoring
Spencer Nelson. In the fifth inning,
Conner McCormack launched a two-run home run to right field for his first of the season to make it 4-0.
The Lakers broke the game open with a six run sixth inning. With two outs, MacAthur Graybill,
Patrick McDonald, and
Spencer Nelson each singled to load the bases for
Kyle Nott who notched a 2-RBI single through the left side to make it 6-0. After a
Nathan Logan walk, McCormack singled to left field scoring Nelson and Nott making it an 8-0 Laker lead. Next batter,
Connor Schuman singled up the middle to score Logan followed by a
Jonas Gulbrandsen 2-RBI double to score McCormack and Schuman.
GVSU followed the sixth inning with a four run seventh inning. The Lakers loaded the bases off two hit by pitches and a single for
Nathan Logan to clear the bases off of two Davis & Elkins errors. McCormack stayed red hot and scored Logan on an RBI single to left field to make it 14-0. Davis & Elkins notched a run in the bottom half of the seventh inning, but the Lakers would earn the mercy rule win in seven innings.
Conner McCormack led the Lakers going 3-4 with five runs batted in and two runs scored, while
Kyle Nott hit 3-4 at the dish with two runs batted in and three runs scored.
MacArthur Graybill went 2-3 at the plate with a run scored, while
Spencer Nelson notched two hit and two runs scored.
Mike Morawski got the start on the mound and tossed all seven innings allowing just one run off five hits, while striking out four. Morawski earned his first collegiate win on the mound.
Game Two – vs Minnesota Duluth, W 5-4
The Lakers picked up right where they left off in game two by scoring three runs in the first inning. With runners on second and third with two out,
Ayden VanEnkevort drove in
Spencer Nelson with an RBI infield single. Next Batter,
Brendan Guciardo doubled down the left field line scoring
Kyle Nott and VanEnkevort.
GVSU added to the lead in the third inning off a groundout with the bases loaded that scored Nott. Minnesota Duluth cut the Laker lead in half in the sixth inning off an error that scored both runs. The Lakers added an insurance run in the eighth inning when
Jake Rydquist scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
In the top of the ninth,
Sam Leck entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs. Leck got Minnesota Duluth to ground into a double play and two batters later secured the Laker win with a groundout to second. Leck earned his second save of the year.
Jake Rydquist led the Lakers going 2-4 with a run scored.
Kyle Nott,
Nathan Logan, and
Ayden VanEnkevort each batted 1-3 in game two with Nott scoring two runs, while VanEnkevort drove in a run and scored a run.
Connor Schuman batted 1-2 at the dish and drew two walks.
Allan Thorington got the start on the mound for the Lakers and earned his first win of the season. Thorington tossed eight innings allowing just one earned run off three hits, while striking out five Minnesota Duluth batters.
The Lakers will be back in the sunshine state tomorrow morning (March 8) against Minnesota State at 9:00 AM at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Florida. Follow @gvsubaseball on Twitter for live in-game updates and visit gvsulakers.com for links to live stats.
