#21 Baseball Sweeps Grand Valley State

OVERVIEW – Grand Valley

SCORES: No. 21 Northwood Timberwolves 5, Grand Valley State Lakers 0 / Northwood 20, Grand Valley State Lakers 12

RECORDS: Northwood (10-2, 2-0 GLIAC), Grand Valley (8-8, 4-2 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Gerace Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: No. 21 Northwood sweeps Grand Valley in their home-opener (April 2).

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS (SEVEN INNINGS)

• Carson Longstreth got the Timberwolves started in the bottom of the second with a two-run homerun to left field, scoring Khale Showers.
• NU extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning thanks to Carson Longstreth's second homerun of the game.
• Northwood added two more runs in the fifth inning. Jacob Rybicki started off the scoring on a GVSU balk, followed by Connor Kin's RBI double to push the NU lead to 5-0.
• That proved  to be the final runs of the day as Logan Lee earned the shutout win for the Timberwolves.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/8/1, Grand Valley 0/9/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 2, Grand Valley 10
• Winning Pitcher – Logan Lee (4-0): 7 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO
• Losing Pitcher – Nick Rutkowski (1-2): 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Longstreth: 2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• Kin: 1-3, RBI
• Rybicki/Showers/Brooks: H, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• The Timberwolves got on the board first, exploding for five runs in the bottom of the second. Matt Magno got the scoring started with an RBI single. Rhett Evans added a two-run RBI triple, followed by another RBI triple from Mike Karam. Jacob Rybicki added an RBI double to round out the scoring in the inning.
• NU carried their momentum into the third inning, starting with a bases loaded hit by pitch for Matt Magno. A sacrifice fly from Rhett Evans pushed the Northwood lead to 7-0.
• Grand Valley used a big fourth inning to push across five runs and make the score 7-5.
• The Timberwolves responded in the bottom of the inning. NU added three runs thanks to an RBI single from Kin and a two-run RBI single from Evans to extend their lead to 10-5.
• The Lakers plated a run in the fifth to put the score at 10-6.
• Mike Karam started the sixth inning off with a triple, then capitalized on a Grand Valley error to reach home. Jacob Rybicki continued the scoring on a balk, followed by a Kin RBI single to score Cole Brooks. Magno then hit three-run home run to make the score 16-6
• GVSU pushed across two more runs on three hits in the top of the seventh.
• The Timberwolves took advantage of loaded bases in the bottom of the seventh. Magno started the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly that brought home Kin. Khale Showers added a run on a GVSU error, followed by a Karam RBI single to push the Northwood lead to 19-8.
• Cole Brooks added a solo homerun in the eighth for the Timberwolves' 20^th run of the game.
• Grand Valley added four runs in the top of the ninth to round out the scoring.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 20/20/0, Grand Valley 12/15/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Grand Valley 8
• Winning Pitcher – Jake Jekielek (1-0):  1 1/3 IP, BB
• Losing Pitcher – Austin Brown (1-3): 2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, BB, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Magno: 2-3, HR, 6 RBI, 2 R
• Evans: 2-5, 6 RBI, R
• Kin: 3-4, 2 RBI, 4 R
• Brooks: 3-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Karam: 3-5,2 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Longstreth: 2-2, 3 R

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• This was the first home baseball game in nearly two years - NU's last home game was April 28, 2019, a span of 705 days.

UP NEXT

• Northwood will continue their home series with a doubleheader versus Grand Valley Saturday (April 3). The first game is scheduled to start at Noon.