The Grand Valley State University Lakers baseball team hosted their home opening doubleheader on Saturday, March 30 against the Wayne State University Warriors, splitting the two game series.
Prior to hosting their home opener, GVSU played seven games in seven days, bringing their overall record to 13-2 on the season and 5-3 in conference.
The Lakers first split a doubleheader against Saginaw Valley State University, losing the first game 6-2 and winning emphatically in the second, 10-2. GVSU then lost to Hillsdale College 4-3, before splitting once again versus Purdue University Northwest.
To conclude the week, the Lakers dropped the first game against the Warriors 5-3 and won the second game 6-1. The start of the doubleheader versus WSU was delayed by an hour due to rainy conditions. The rainy weather persisted throughout the day and affected field and pitching conditions.
“We spent probably three or four hours working on the field prior to the game just to make it playable,” said GVSU head coach Jordan Keur.
Regardless of the conditions, Keur’s team had a solid start at the plate. The Lakers hit three singles from their first three batters: senior shortstop Connor Schuman, senior center fielder Kyle Nott, and junior left fielder Ryan Dykstra. With the bases loaded early, the Lakers were able to take advantage of the offensive outburst.
Batting cleanup, in the fourth spot, was junior third baseman Jonas Gulbrandsen. Gulbrandsen also singled to score Schuman, which was followed by a sacrifice fly by senior right fielder Nathan Logan to bring home Nott.
The Lakers first five batters all hit singles in the bottom of the first inning and led 2-0 until the fourth. The game stayed pretty stagnant with only two hits combined, one by each team, and no runs scored.
Then Wayne State had a monster fourth inning. Following two singles by Warrior batters, senior left fielder Logan Tobel blasted a three-run homer to give WSU a 3-2 lead. GVSU was unable to come back. The Lakers surrendered two more runs and scored just one of their own. GVSU fell 5-3 in the first game of the day.
After what seemed like an early scare by giving up a run in the first inning, GVSU displayed a dominant pitching performance in the second game.
Sophomore pitcher for the Lakers Mike Morawski settled in and threw six scoreless innings after the first. Additionally, he was not even supposed to pitch in the second game.
“Originally I was gonna go game one of the series,” Morawski said. “Our pitching coach Jarett Olson thought it would be better for me to go game two.”
It turns out that Olson was correct. Morawski would go on to strike out five batters and allow just six hits across his 7.1 innings of play.
“I came in and had to set the tone after a loss,” Morawski said. “My main goal was to get these guys going.”
Still, the run support for the Lakers came late as GVSU trailed until the bottom of the fifth inning. After Schuman drove home senior second baseman Jake Rydquist on a single to tie the game, the runs came pouring in for the Lakers’ bats. GVSU scored six runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, giving them a 6-1 lead as the final score of the game.
“I challenged them to come out again in game two and stay locked in and they did,” Keur said. “We executed and made plays and that’s ultimately what it comes down to.”
Getting some rest from travel and playing seven games across a week, the Lakers will stay at home for a three day and four game series against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers. The series will begin on Friday, April 5 at 2 p.m. in Allendale, Michigan at the GVSU Baseball Field.
