The No. 5 ranked Grand Valley State University baseball team (20-8) traveled cross-town to No. 14 Davenport University (21-6) for a four-game series from Friday, March 28 through Sunday, March 30. In the doubleheader played on Friday, GVSU split games, winning game one 4-2 and losing the other 7-6 to the Panthers. In game three on Saturday, the Lakers lost another close match 8-7, and closed out the series on Sunday with a 7-6 loss.
After a weather delay held Friday’s game back, senior Jayden Dentler took the mound for the Lakers. The Lakers first put the ball in play in the fourth inning with back-to-back hits from junior Evan Morrison and senior Ryan Dykstra. GVSU scored first off a single from senior Brendan Guciardo, which brought Morrison and Dykstra home. Davenport responded in the following innings with a couple runs of their own to tie things up.
The lead returned to GVSU with a triple by Dykstra and a flyout by junior Jovan Gill, which scored two more. Dentler and the Lakers’ defense took down the next six batters to secure the win.
“When pitching, batting and fielding are all working for us, that’s when we click and get on a hot streak,” said Dysktra.
Assistant coach Jarret Olsen agreed with Dysktra.
“Well, we’re just playing good, complimentary baseball right now,” added Olsen.
Dentler was credited with his sixth win of the season, completing all seven innings with 97 pitches.
Pitching in game two was redshirt sophomore Owen Avery. Down 1-0, the Lakers got on base in the fourth inning with singles from senior Jonas Gulbrandsen and Guciardo. A hit up the middle by sophomore Ryan Stimac scored two, pulling the Lakers ahead, 2-1.
Allowing six hits and giving up five runs in the fifth inning, Avery was substituted for senior Colby Phipps. In the sixth inning, a triple by Caleb Estrada and a wild pitch brought him home to bring the score to 6-3. Three more hits by the Lakers led to scoring two runs, but despite bringing things close, Davenport pushed back with a home run in the seventh inning.
In the ninth inning, Dykstra brought it back to a one-score game with a home run to right center. However, the Lakers were unable to close the gap, losing game two. Phipps finished with 59 pitches, while Avery threw 84 pitches and was credited with the loss.
Starting on the mound in Saturday’s game three was junior Collin Bradley. Davenport obtained an early lead in the first inning, scoring one run, and later extended it with two walks and three hits in the second inning. This scored the Panthers three more runs.
Down 4-0, the Lakers rebounded with hits by junior Nick Krstich and Morrison, as well as a walk by Estrada. With bases loaded, Dykstra was able to get a ground out RBI. A double hit down the right field line by Gill brought home the remaining runners, bringing the score to 4-3.
After giving up a solo home run in the fifth inning, the Lakers fought back with hits from Guciardo and junior Ayden VanEnkevort. A sacrifice fly from Krstich scored one run, putting it back to a one-run game.
Freshman Sebastian Talaga took over on the mound for Bradley in the sixth inning, where he held Davenport scoreless in the next two innings. In that time, the Lakers were on a roll, scoring from a sacrifice fly from Dykstra and a hit from Krstich that scored two more.
Heading into the ninth inning, VanEnkevort was brought in to close out the game. Unfortunately, chaos struck with the final batter up. With bases loaded, a wild pitch was not able to be controlled by the Lakers’ defense. Davenport took advantage and was able to send three runners home for the win, 8-7.
At the plate on Sunday, the Lakers capitalized early on a RBI double from Gulbrandsen. By the third inning, the score was tied, 3-3. Stringing together more runs throughout the game, GVSU held onto a small lead into the eighth inning. However, Davenport pulled together two runs to take a one-score lead, 7-6, and held this for the remainder of the game.
Upcoming for the GVSU baseball team is a long streak of home games that will last through the end of April.
“We got a new turf field this year, so just knowing how it plays and feels will help us out,” said Dykstra. “The last two home games we’ve had, we’ve had pretty big crowds, so (it’s) kind of cool to have at a home field again.”
The team will next take on Saginaw Valley State University (18-6) in another four-game series from Friday, April 4 through Sunday, April 6.
