Baseball Takes Series From GVSU After Saturday Split

OVERVIEW – GRAND VALLEY

SCORES: Northwood Timberwolves 9, Grand Valley State Lakers 8 / Grand Valley State 14, Northwood 7

RECORDS: Northwood (11-3, 3-1 GLIAC), Grand Valley (9-10, 5-3 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Gerace Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood splits pair on Saturday to take weekend series from Grand Valley (April 3).

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS (SEVEN INNINGS)

• GVSU wasted no time getting on the board, pushing a run across in the top of the first.
• The Lakers added one more run in the second to take the 2-0 lead.
• A Rhett Evans RBI single got the NU scoring started in the bottom of the second.
• Grand Valley extended their lead by one more in the top of the third to make the score 3-1
• The Timberwolves responded with a 2-run home run from Connor Kin to even the score at 3-3 in the third inning.
• NU added another 2-run homerun in the fourth inning, this time from Rhett Evans. This gave the Timberwolves their first lead of the day at 5-3
• The Lakers plated a run in the fifth to cut it to 5-4.
• Grand Valley State put together a big rally in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to go on top 8-5.
• Northwood rallied in the bottom of the sixth in dramatic fashion. With two outs and the bases loaded, Cole Brooks stepped up and hit a grand slam to right center field, giving the Timberwolves the lead back at 9-8.
• This proved to be the winning run as Northwood got the final three outs of the game to claim the victory.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 9/10/4, Grand Valley 8/13/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Grand Valley 12
• Winning Pitcher – Hunter McShane (1-0): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Michael Barno (1-2): 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, BB, 3 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Brooks: 1-3, 4 RBI, 2 R, Grand Slam
• Evans: 3-3, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Kin: 2 RBI, R
• Michael Karam: 2-3, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• The Lakers got the scoring going early in a big way, putting ten runs on the board in the top of the second inning. GVSU had seven singles and were aided by three Northwood errors in the inning.
• Northwood put five on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Blake Salamon and Carson Longstreth both scored on a double play and an error, which was followed by a David Jeffers three-run homer to left field to cut the GVSU lead to 10-5.
• Grand Valley plated another run in the top of the sixth that made the score 11-6.
• Cole Brooks brought Jacob Rybicki home with a bunt in the bottom of the inning to put the score at 11-7.
• NU got no closer than that the remainder of the game, as the Lakers scored one in the eight and two in the ninth to close out the win.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/9/6, Grand Valley 14/17/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Grand Valley 14
• Winning Pitcher – Nick Shaw 1-1):  5 IP, 1 H, R, 2 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Jack Gulvas (0-1): 1.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R (6 ER), BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Jeffers: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI
• Salamon: 2-4, RBI, 2 R
• Brooks: 3-4, RBI

UP NEXT

• Northwood will host Rochester on Tuesday (April 3). The first game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.