AUBURNDALE, FL – The Grand Valley State baseball team defeated Winona State 10-5 Thursday (March 9) at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex. The Lakers improve to 5-4 on the season, while Winona State falls to 3-8. 
 
The Lakers compiled 14 hits in the 10-5 victory which is the most in any game so far this season. GVSU got on the board first in the top of the third inning. Nathan Logan singled to right field and advanced Spencer Nelson to third. Nelson would score on the play off an error by the Winona State right fielder. Two batters later, Connor Schuman singled through the left side to score Logan making it 2-0. Winona State answered in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to left field to cut the lead to one. 
 
The Lakers put up a three-run sixth inning to increase the lead to 5-2. Jake Rydquist led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Schuman. Jonas Gulbrandsen hit an infield single to put runners on the corners. With two outs and after Gulbrandsen stole second, Ayden VanEnkevort notched a 2-RBI single to score both Rydquist and Gulbrandsen. VanEnkevort would advance to second on a pitch, stole third, and scored off a throwing error by the catcher to make it 5-2. 
 
The Lakers added a run in the seventh increase the lead to four off a run scored by Schuman. Winona State responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Laker lead to 6-4. GVSU would answer with two runs in the eighth inning. Justin Mansager led off the inning with a single to right center and VanEnkevort laid down a bunt for a single to put runners on first and second. Brendan Guciardo advanced the runners next at bat with a sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Kyle Nott singled up the middle to bring both runners home to put the Lakers up 8-4. 
 
GVSU notched two more runs in the ninth to make it 10-4. Schuman led off the inning with a single followed by a Gulbrandsen walk. Mansager singled to load the bases. VanEnkevort singled through the left side to score Schuman and Gulbrandsen. Winona State would score one run in the bottom of the ninth as the Lakers would close it out winning by five. 
 
Ayden VanEnkevort went 3-3 at the dish with four runs batted in and two runs scored. Kyle Nott batted 3-5 with an RBI. Connor Schuman and Jonas Gulbrandsen each hit 2-3 with two runs scored, while Schuman notched an RBI. Justin Mansager and Nathan Logan each added two hits and a run scored. 
 
Brendan Pierce got the start and earned the win (1-0) in his Laker debut. Pierce tossed five innings allowing just one run off four hits while striking out three. Josh Schell made his Laker debut tossing 1.2 innings in relief allowing three runs off four hits with three strikeouts. Will Goebel earned his first save of the season after tossing the final 2.1 innings allowing just one run off four hits. 
 
The Lakers will play regional opponent Ashland tomorrow (March 10) at Bing Tyus Yard in Winter Haven, Florida on the campus of Polk State College. First pitch is slated for 10:00 AM. Follow @gvsubaseball on Twitter for live in-game updates and visit gvsulakers.com for links to live stats.