Top-seeded Grand Valley State (46-8) claimed a 7-0 shutout win over #8 Kentucky Wesleyan at the GVSU Baseball Field Thursday in NCAA DII Midwest Region 1 action. The Lakers will now face Davenport (30-26) Friday at 2 p.m. in round two action. Davenport will be the home team in the game per NCAA Tournament rules. The shutout win over KWC was the Lakers' eighth shutout of the year.
Senior pitcher
Collin Bradley, who improved to 11-0 on the year and 26-7 in his career, was sensational on the bump once again. Bradley tied the GVSU single-game record with 14 strikeouts and became just the second pitcher in program history to eclipse the 200 strikeout mark for a career (204). Bradley yielded just two hits in eight shutout innings on the mound, striking out two or more in six of eight innings.
Edward Konow secured the shutout with a scoreless ninth.Â
The Lakers scored all of the runs they would need with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the second on four consecutive singles. CF
Jake Skaggs singled, followed by by C
Nick Krstich single to  to center that moved Skaggs to third. LF
Will Bowen singled home Skaggs and Krstich moved to third. SS
Evan Morrison reached a safely on a bunt that plated Krstich and gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead. Bowen doubled to left center in the bottom of the fourth with one out, moved to third on an infield single off the bat of 2B
Ayden VanEnkevort and scored on a 1B
Jovan Gill single to right. VanEnkevort scored when 3B
Caleb Estrada reached on an error to up the Laker lead to 4-0.Â
RF
Ryan Stimac opened the fifth inning with a walk and moved to second when Skaggs was hit by a pitch. Krstich executed a sacrafice bunt and Stimac scored from third on sac fly to center by Morrison. Stimac hit a solo home run to right in the top of the seventh and Skaggs turned a walk into a run, with a stolen base and a Bowen RBI single.
Bowen was 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Gill was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Morrison was 1-for-3 with two RBI and Stimac was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.Â
