LANSING – The Grand Valley State baseball team opened up the GLIAC Tournament today (May 11) with an 8-7 thrilling victory in extra innings. The Lakers improve to 29-19 on the season and will advance in the winner's bracket and will play Purdue Northwest tomorrow (May 12) at 7:00 PM at Jackson Field in Lansing, Michigan. 
 
Saginaw Valley State opened up the scoring in the first inning on a leadoff home run to left field. The Cardinals made it 2-0 later in the inning off a sacrifice fly to left field. Conner McCormack cut the Laker deficit in half with a solo home run to center field in the fourth inning for his team leading eighth home run of the season. Saginaw Valley State quickly answered in the bottom half with an RBI single up the middle to make it 3-1.
 
The Lakers struck back in the fifth inning to make it 3-2 Saginaw Valley. Kyle Nott got things started with a one out double to center field. With two outs, Logan Anderson singled to right field scoring Nott to bring the Lakers back within one. 
 
The Lakers would take their first lead of the game in the eighth inning by scoring two runs to go ahead 4-3. Jonas Gulbrandsen led the inning off with a single to left field. Gulbrandsen advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a Brendan Guciardo single to right field, Justin Mansager tied the game with a sacrifice bunt to score Gulbrandsen. Next batter, Jake Rydquist singled up the middle to score pinch runner Carter Rohman to put the Lakers ahead. 
 
The Cardinals would respond in the bottom half of the inning with two runs to regain the lead at 5-4. After three singles to load the bases, Saginaw Valley State tied the game on a sacrifice fly to center field. The Cardinals would take the lead on a suicide squeeze. The Lakers were able to get the second runner out at the plate to end the inning and trail by one heading to the ninth. 
 
In the ninth, Connor Schuman led off the inning with a single up the middle and advance to second on a sacrifice bunt. Conner McCormack singled back to the pitcher to advance Schuman to third. With two outs in the inning, Nathan Logan smoked a clutch double to left field to score both Schuman and McCormack to give the Lakers a 6-5 lead. The Cardinals did not go away as they would tie the game at six in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out RBI single to send the game to extra innings. 
 
In the tenth inning, both teams get two runners on and are held off the scoreboard to send the game to the eleventh. The Lakers turned a clutch double play with runners on first and second to end the inning, keeping the game alive. In the eleventh, Sam Leck posted two clutch strikeouts with one out and a runner on third to keep the Lakers in it and send it to the 12^th.
 
In the 12^th inning, the Lakers regained the lead with two runs to make it 8-6. Jake Rydquist drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kyle Nott ripped a triple to right center to score Rydquist, putting the Lakers back on top. Next batter, Logan Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to score Nott to put the Lakers up two. In the bottom half, the Cardinals hit back-to-back doubles to creep within one run. Will Goebel came in relief to record the final two outs to strand the tying run at third and secure the 8-7 extra inning thrilling win. 
 
Conner McCormack led the Lakers with three hits including a home run, double, and two runs scored. Kyle Nott recorded two hits including a triple, double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Jonas Gulbrandsen and Justin Mansager each had two hits, while Mansager added an RBI. Nathan Logan notched a clutch two-RBI double to put the Lakers ahead in the ninth. Jake Rydquist added a hit with an RBI and run scored.  
 
Nick Rutkowski got the start on the mound seven innings allowing three runs off six hits with three strikeouts. Sam Leck tossed four innings in relief and earned the win (2-2) allowing two runs off five hits with two strikeouts. Will Goebel recorded the last two outs and earned his first save of the season.